[bikeracer]

So I've located two L16 deep cycle batteries that, when new, claimed 340ish amp-hours @ full charge. They were taken out of commission but were part a large home array that didn't age the same. They are in good shape. I left the cooked ones alone. An electrician and I tried hooking an amp clamp to the positive pole of the battery with the car on, engine running, and everything (defroster, fan, radio, flashers, hlights, brakelights, everything) on. At the highest draw, the amp clamp was reading 3.7 amps. It may have been funny since it was possibly an exclusively AC amp clamp. Does anyone have reading from their vehicles that can back this reading up or for sure say that it's in error? I have a '97 civic hatchback dx.

My hope is to take the alternator belt out off of the engine, put the big batteries (320 lbs for the two of 'em) in the back, and run the car off of them, charging them with solar, and get some significant MPG gains.

I'll probably include a plug to hook up to since I live in new england and the sun can make itself scarce.

Any other pointers, comments, etc?