Next, we needed new battery terminals. The Shorai battery uses an M6 bolt to connect the battery to the cable whereas the Cappuccino battery uses a tapered post. We could either convert the wires to use a ring terminal or convert the battery to work with a post terminal. There are actually kits to do the latter, providing a bolt in terminal so you don’t have to cut off and crimp on a new cable end. However they are all for SAE style terminals, whereas the Cappuccino uses a smaller JIS terminal.It took weeks to find a bolt-in terminal solution, but after a lot of searching we finally found what we were looking for. We picked up a set of nickel plated brass spacers from McMaster-Carr. Brass is a great electrical conductor and the nickel plating provides good corrosion resistance. These clamp nicely into our OEM terminals on the wiring harness. We wanted to reuse the original cable ends in case we ever converted back to a standard car battery. While the theory is sound, I have personally had poor experience with motorcycle batteries in street cars so this was a personal preference.While we were browsing McMaster, we found these M6 thumb screws which we decided to use to bolt the new spacer to the battery terminal. This makes isolating the battery more convenient as we can do it without any tools. This came in handy when swapping ECUs on the dyno during our PNP ECU Test.Our old battery and bracketry weighed 18 lbs 2 oz. We did not include the battery tray since this is still being used with the new battery.
Nice! I’ve had a Shorai in my CBR600rr for like a decade. OEM batteries died after 2-3 years each. The Shorai, even a decade old, cranks up super strong even after sitting for two months. I’ve never had to put a tender on it like I did the factory batteries and those still died after a couple years.
Was the vice mounted metal bender you used fabricated or purchased? If purchased, may I ask where you got it? Thank you. Nice work on the Cappo. It’s probably my favorite build series on here.
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Nice! I’ve had a Shorai in my CBR600rr for like a decade. OEM batteries died after 2-3 years each. The Shorai, even a decade old, cranks up super strong even after sitting for two months. I’ve never had to put a tender on it like I did the factory batteries and those still died after a couple years.
Was the vice mounted metal bender you used fabricated or purchased? If purchased, may I ask where you got it? Thank you. Nice work on the Cappo. It’s probably my favorite build series on here.
They’re called manual rod (or flat) benders. The one in the article specifically is a Huth manual rod bender. They run about $100.
What Augustus said below is accurate. It’s a handy tool for bending rod or small flat stock.
And thank you for the kind words, I love this little car and it’s currently getting some winter updates to the interior and cooling system.
McMaster is the GOAT!
Thanks for the info.