Thankyou for the tip and you were spot on. After all was said and done, I removed the tire and got my samurai up on blocks and discovered that in conjunction with the hole directly below the battery there was one in the very corner leading to the firewall, going right down a rusty bugger of a tube.
Four hours later and a red neck patch job with aluminum plate and steel + a half tube of silicone: no apparent leak.
Poured 40oz of bottled water onto the seam between hood and windshield and was drier than a bucket of sand
Now to see if it can withstand the pacific northwest winter wetness, lol.
thankyou again ebewley!