Thanks guys. I've been fabbing my way into more problems. I decided it is about time to start thinking about starting to think about wiring this mess. I dug out the harness I constructed for the big block and stripped the looming off of it to see what I was going to be able to reuse (little) and what I was going to have to remake (lots!!). Anyways, I figured before I start doing anything electrical, I had best get some batteries in it. Well, at least figure out exactly where they are going to go. In its original configuration, the battery was on the passenger side mounted parallel with the core support. That works fantastic when you do not have an intercooler. I happen to have an intercooler. That being the case, I needed to come up with a plan B. I figured out that there would be enough room on both sides if I mounted the batteries perpendicular to the core support. Then all I had to do was come up with some type of mounting apparatus. No big deal, eh??
This is what I came up with:
This is what the driver's side roughed in looks like: (the pic is kind of deceiving because the battery is actually level)
This is the mounting configuration for the driver's side to the rear of the core support. The tube that goes above the headlight is mounted to the top bolt that holds the core support ti the inside/back of the fender. The vertical tube that has the two bolt holes in the top goes down and has two bolts lolding it to the bottom flat part of the core support. (You can see the power steering filter mount below the tray with the vertical tray support running between the mounting tab and the fluid ports)
The rear of the tray is basically free-floating except for a mounting tab (more like a block) on the bottom of the tray that mounts to the inner fender well.
The passenger side is *basically* a mirror image of the driver side, but not really.
They actually turned out pretty good. When I was figuring out the first one, I was not too thrilled, but I realized that this was about the only way it was going to work and it worked out good in the end. With bolts in all the holes, I dropped (literally) an Optima in each one and they did not budge at all. I then grabbed the batteries and tried shoving them around, front/back and side/side and they do not move at all. The strangest thing about this is these things are actually pretty light--not that weight is an issue (obviously), but usually I tend to overbuild things to the point I need a gantry crane to install whatever it is I just engineered.
Man, for such a cavernous engine compartment, I sure seem to be running out of room quickly.