Moving battery for onboard air

I'm in the process of adding onboard air to my XJ while keeping the stock AC system intact. This requires relocating the battery to the driver side, moving the PCM.......etc.
Here are some photos and a video of that almost complete system. The remaining steps are to add the Humvee air intake cap to the cowl intake. This should be done tomorrow if my slacker brother-in-law brings me his grinder or I pocket one from the tool store.


Parts needed:

• K&N Apollo
• Some misc. tubing
• Spare jumper cables (these will be cut up) and battery terminal connectors
• 1' of scrap tubing (nothing structural, just for spacing)
• 90 degree angle bracket
• stock Humvee air intake cap (P/N 12338377)
• 3" hole saw
• 9" of 2 3/4" OD tube (I used www.metalexpress.net - great prices and they were nice to my wife when she picked up the pieces)
• 2" of 4 1/2" OD tube
• liquid weld
• worm clamps
• wire nuts - get the biggest ones Lowes sells, probably 8 gauge

Photo Gallery


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOTBiCL8Htg
The main thing not shown in this video is the Humvee air intake cap. This will be mounted over the 3" flexible intake hose that comes out the top of the cowl.

Steps:

1. Disconnect battery
2. Remove wipers then hood cowl
3. Drill two, 3" holes for air intake
4. Remove stock intake
5. Unmount PCM and resevoir next to it. Move this resovoir as close to the rear of the vehicle as you can. Only mount with the two screws on the top, the bottom mount will be used later.
6. Remove battery tray. Test fit it were the old intake was. I mounted it at an angle, resting one corner on the ledge where the old intake fit through the front of the engine bay. The other corners I rested on 1/2" piece of tubing (just a spacer, washer would do probably).
7. Place the battery on the tray. From under the vehicle, in the drives front wheel well, use a tiny drill bit to mark a spot on the battery tray, drilling up through the nuts welded in the wheel well. Remove the battery and tray and finish the holes. You will be using these new holes to secure the battery tray.
8. Once the tray is secure, cut the ends off the jumper cables and the old XJ wiring harness. Splice them together and route the new cable to the driver side.
9. With the battery in place, squeeze the PCM in between the battery and resevoir. I mounted it with on bolt and a massive zip tie ( the side closest to the engine would near impossible to mount without fabricating a bracket).
10. Cut about 1/2" off the shorter side of the Apollo intake elbow. This will bring the elbow's height done so that it will fit under the hood. Attacke the elbow to the 2 3/4" pipe, then 4" of the Apollo flexable tube, filter, then another piece of flexible tubing.
11. Connect the two breather tubes to a t junction and then to the filter.
12. I also fabricated a bracket for the filter to rest on so there was no chance of it bouncing around.

Overall, this project could easily be completed in one day if you have all the right parts. It took no welding, no plasma cutting, no heavy lifting, etc.


Shortened elbow:



3" holes drilled:



battery tray:



battery tray spacer:




battery's new home:



compressor's new home:



across the engine bay:



I'll post some more pictures tomorrow of the overall setup.

looks good, i was thinking of getting rid of my air box also, i thought they did not make the k&n apollo any more - looking forward for the pics when you are done / have a happy memorial day:cheers:

loki_racer said:

This should be done tomorrow if my slacker brother-in-law brings me his grinder or I pocket one from the tool store.

Click to expand...

Nominated

x2. only boys steal tools. any real man allready has a grinder.

You must have large pockets, also, yeah don't steal shit :twak: (unless you were joking)

I was completely joking. By stealing, I meant buying then hide from the wife.

loki_racer said:

compressor's new home:

Click to expand...

Is that how you're mounting the compressor? And were you just planning to get a longer serpentine belt?

I used Kilby's bracket and alternator pulley. It's a little more money, but makes the installation a breeze. The York is run off a separate v-belt that is driven by the new dual alternator pulley.

I like this setup because if the York fails and seizes up, I can just remove the v-belt and keep on driving. It's not going to leave me stranded.

I haven't decided how I am going to mount it yet. I planned on doing some searching around the net to see how others have done it. I ordered the Kilby bracket and was told it was on a very extended back-order for some reason. I decided to cancel the order and just have a local guy fab it for me.

I thought about the v-belt, but decided that I will just carry a spare stock belt and go with a serpentine setup. Kilby has directs and part numbers for the extended belt needed.

Make sure you ask Kilby about the KE-1700. It's made specifically for the XJ, but it's not listed on their website. If you asked about the kit made for the TJ, I can see that being on backorder.

johnnyc said:

Make sure you ask Kilby about the KE-1700. It's made specifically for the XJ, but it's not listed on their website. If you asked about the kit made for the TJ, I can see that being on backorder.

Click to expand...

It was the KE1700 I ordered then canceled. If I remember it was an 8 week back-order.

Post #61 and 62
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