Battery Relocation - One Mans Opinion.
 
There are two reasons for battery relocation in a competition vehicle.
a)  Weight distribution.  In an MR2 moving the battery forward (but still behind the front "axle" line) is a good thing.
 
b)  Safety - or more specifically Safety Switch.  aka Master Switch/Battery Switch/"Turn that off before it Blows"_Switch
 
If you're intending to fit said switch, you're going to be running hi-current cables from somewhere accessible to a harnessed driver, so why not mount the battery in the front, run the cable from there to the drivers position, then back to the engine?

B24
I'm not sure about leaving it for that long. The weight and cranking would be a minimal loss but after seeing what was left of the plastic in my engine bay after running a high mount turbo, there is no way I would leave the battery that close to the turbo. Very risky move.
There is a VW battery which is located under the passenger seat. It looks like a low, flat unit which would fit under the passenger seat of your car. More than likely a dry cell battery. Could be a good option.
Are you taking this car to MTC or the NA? 

 
I'm not turboing the car, that photo was purely taken as a gag to say that I had turbo'd it over the weekend after people saw I was buying a couple of turbos for my AW11 (They are actually going on the V6).
 

dennis the menace
Battery Relocation - One Mans Opinion.
 
There are two reasons for battery relocation in a competition vehicle.
a)  Weight distribution.  In an MR2 moving the battery forward (but still behind the front "axle" line) is a good thing.
 
b)  Safety - or more specifically Safety Switch.  aka Master Switch/Battery Switch/"Turn that off before it Blows"_Switch
 
If you're intending to fit said switch, you're going to be running hi-current cables from somewhere accessible to a harnessed driver, so why not mount the battery in the front, run the cable from there to the drivers position, then back to the engine?

I can still fit a power switch beside the passenger seat (against the tunnel and firewall) within reach of my harnessed driving position with the battery mounted in the cabin. This only requires me to use a 36" power lead from battery to starter instead of the current 24" one I'm using. This is at least half the amount of requires for even the shortest front mounted  battery setup.


 

True - my perspective is for rally spec, and I need to be able to fit an external "actuation point" at the base of the drivers A-pillar.  I guess I'm stuck with the extra weight . . .
 

dennis the menace
True - my perspective is for rally spec, and I need to be able to fit an external "actuation point" at the base of the drivers A-pillar.  I guess I'm stuck with the extra weight . . .

You can still do that, you just run a pull release cable (Like a boot or bonnet cable) that turns the power off. I saw this setup on a few cars at WTAC.

Yeah, that will be the plan anyway. Other issue is not quite enough room behind passengers seat for a sealed battery box, once it's back far enough to allow entry with a roll cage leg running down the A-pillar . . . unless I go for one of the specialist battery's, in which case the wallet opening isn't big enough  :-)

Only 18 months behind schedule...
 

 
Fuel tank is nearly on the ground, ready for an SW20T fuel pump to go in.
While the fuel tank is out, anyone have an recommendations for cleaning the tank out and removing 20 years of crap? Just hot water and a lot of detergent?

Apparently molasses works really well in fuel tanks, not just for rust but also just for breaking down general gunk buildup.
 

How about chemical based degreaser or kero?

I might try something like kero as I'm a bit worried about using a chemical based degreaser because I cannot get inside the tank to scrub it clean afterwards and not all of them list what nasty ingredients they use on the label. Molasses is a good one too, seen that stuff work magic before, will be my backup, back yard plan :D

Soak it in degreaser and then stick the end of a Karcher/Gerni inside and blast the crap out of it? Just try and dodge all the gunk flying back out :)
Would that work?