Having read here some of the problems with switching out a battery, I approached it with some trepitation.
I picked up a year old OEM battery(receipt as proof)from a guy who totaled his car.
Mine checked out fine, but a little worried as it was seven years old.
Bought a battery mat, the felt post thingies and some silicon grease for post lube.
Had good luck with a 'memory maintainer' on my Miata when disconnecting the battery and so bought another for this project. Highly reccomend this item.
Went to physically remove the battery and found my strut brace in the way. Removed it and everything went well. Fired it up and all is great ... no loss of radio code or ECU settings. I'm happy ... hope this helps some future endeavor.