Hey Jon,

Thanks for the advice.  I went ahead and tried it anyway.  There are two
distinct pieces of metal in the terminal.  Aparently the charge from the
top terminal goes down the outer piece of metal to the side terminal,
because as soon as I removed the top terminal the side terminal quit
working.  I used some pliers to squeeze the metal together and covered the
positive terminal with solder.  So now the side terminals are working, and
the battery is mounted sideways.  Its definately nice to have that black
lid down, but it would probably have been best to cut holes in the black
lid as Frank suggested.  I'm sure its a time bomb now and will be
purchasing another battery in a couple months.

Thanks,
Matt

On Mon, 14 Mar 2005, Jon Brown wrote:

> From: Jon Brown <jbrown510@gmail.com>
> To: Matt Barclay <mbarclay@OPENFBO.COM>
> Subject: Re:      [VANAGON] Optima battery won't fit,
>     can I cut the top terminals?
> Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 16:13:20 -0800
>
> If you cut the top terminals incorrectly it breaks the seal on the internals
> of the battery causing premature failure.  I beleive this is just an "air
> leak" rather than the gel squirting out, either way it's not recommended as
> a do it yourself job.  A professional will be able to cut the terminals and
> then reseal the terminals as neccesary.
>
> FWIW, I mounted mine on the it's side and removed the "black piece of sheet
> metal" rather than the top terminals.  Optima's do not vent therefore it's
> ok if they are not seperated from the interior of the car, unlike most
> batteries.
>
> Good luck!
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Matt Barclay" <mbarclay@OPENFBO.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 9:26 AM
> Subject: [VANAGON] Optima battery won't fit, can I cut the top terminals?
>
>
>> I want to install my optima 34/78 battery on its side, but the top
>> terminals make it impossible to install.  I'd rather not cut into driver's
>> seat platform.  Can I just take a hacksaw the top terminals?  Will this
>> damage my battery?
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Matt
>