Battery tray battle.

[ew1usnr]

What do you guys use for battery hold-downs?
Do you (can you) drill holes in the original tray to use J-bolts to secure a cross piece?
Should I buy a new original-type battery tray, or is there something better?
Original type tray: http://www.laurelmountainmustang.com...SJACsKRDHwgRuC ALDN1bzTlW3YBlPtomp79RSj9tmsNAUYP6ucRoC8AXw_wcB
Should I just prime and paint my old original corroded tray and put it back in?
Enquiring minds want to know.

My 63 Falcon with a 260 V-8 has the original battery tray and the original clamp doesn't work with my new battery. The new battery does not have a ridge around the base for the original clamp to hold on to. I wanted a way to secure the battery with a top mounted cross bar and ordered a "M3534D 1963 – 65 Mustang Battery Tray, Top Clamp Style with J Nuts (For Falcon) from Venom Parts for $14.49 + $9.95 shipping = $24.44. See: https://www.venomparts.com/Dinacorn-M3534D.aspx

I received the new battery tray and removed the old battery tray yesterday. That sounds easy, but it turned into a bit of a struggle. The floor of the tray was held in place by two bolts with smooth carriage bolt heads that turned as I tried to unscrew the nuts below. I had to drill into the bolt heads and crimp them with pliers to remove them.

Original bolts.jpg

After getting the old tray out, I found that the new tray didn't fit. The dimensions of the new tray and the angle of its bracket are wrong.

Battery trays compared.jpg

The area under the battery tray was dirty, but I was glad to see that it was not very badly corroded. This is what it looked like after I scrubbed it with detergent and washed it with a hose. I will sand, prime, seal, and paint it before I put a battery tray back in.

Under batter tray after washing.jpg

[Jeff W]

I used my original style tray and used a 1967 Mustang top clamp with J-Bolts.

I was going to weld two washers on edge to the sides of my try to hold the hook on the J-bolts but ran out of time. I ended up drilling one hole in the tray botton and the second in the inner fender to hook the J-bolts.

When I swap engines I will likely wend tabs to the tray.

I'm sure both parts were Scott Drake but I think the hook on the J-bolts was round and not flat as shown in the pictures on the web.

I have a six cylinder so I think the battery is a different orientation. It is also an "early 63" manufacture which I understand has different mounting than late 63.

[url]http://www.drakeautomotivegroup.com/Store/Product/C5AZ-10718-KIT.aspx?wid=141

This looks like a good option and would spare the welding:

http://johnsmustang.com/Battery-Hold-Down-Clamp-Kit-67-70-Style-65-66-Mustang

[ew1usnr]

This looks like a good option and would spare the welding: http://johnsmustang.com/Battery-Hold...-65-66-Mustang

Hello, Jeff.

Thanks for the suggestion. I ordered a new OEM-style battery tray:

c3dz-10732-g.jpg

I also ordered the hold down conversion kit. That will save me from having to find a welder.

70578l.jpg

The new battery tray and hold down will make The Wonder Falcon even more wonderful!

[ew1usnr]

I have received the hold down conversion kit and hope to receive the new battery tray today. In the mean time, I lightly sanded the area under the battery tray to smooth it off and painted it with "Loctite® Extend Rust Neutralizer, a fast drying, milky white latex coating that is applied to rusted metal to stop rust, protect the surface and act as a primer for the finish coat. It converts rust to a neutral surface ready for painting, creating the ability to paint over rust.” This stuff is like Naval Jelly, but you do not have to rinse it with water after application. I used the rust neutralizer because if I had aggressively tried to sand the area down to clean bare metal, I might have just ended up with a hole.

This what it looked like initially:

Under batter tray after washing.jpg

This is after painting on the rust neutralizer:

Rust neutralizer.jpg

This is what the rust neutralizer looked like after it dried:

Dried neutralizer.jpg

After the neutralizer dried I painted it with Rust-Oleum primer. I will add a top coat of satin black when the primer has dried. There is a small rust hole along the front edge where the area meets the radiator support. I will fill that hole with "Bondo Plastic Metal" putty and paint over it with the black paint.

Rust-Oleum Primer.jpg

I noticed that a previous owner had filed a misshapen larger hole in the inner fender. I wonder why he had done that? I will see if I can find a grommet for that hole to keep the sharp edges away from the wires.

Odd hole.jpg

[SmithKid]

Dennis, Looking good, but don't forget to prepare/repair the underside with neutralizer, if you haven't already, or the corrosion will eat it's way back through from the underside. I took an additional step in my repair by nuetralizing the acid with a liberal application of baking soda to the area before applying the rust neutralizer. I don't know if this was really needed but figured..... why not. Mine needed a patch of lots of metal in the area, as lots of these cars do, after the above steps.

[ew1usnr]

Dennis, Looking good, but don't forget to prepare/repair the underside with neutralizer, if you haven't already, or the corrosion will eat it's way back through from the underside. I took an additional step in my repair by neutralizing the acid with a liberal application of baking soda to the area before applying the rust neutralizer.

Hello, Gene.

I looked underneath and saw some corrosion, like you said. The grey stuff in the picture is the "plastic metal" I added to fill a hole. The red stuff is primer that dripped down from above through the holes. I'll pull the car out into the driveway maybe this weekend and scrub and wash the mud off the inside-top of the fender and then coat the underside of the battery area with neutralizer, primer, and paint. I didn't use baking soda, but I did scrub the top of that area with detergent to get the sand and oil off and and rinsed it with a flowing hose. That probably got rid of any acid residue. The following picture is looking up and forward inside the right fender:
Underneath.jpg

I painted the area under the battery tray semi-gloss black.
Black Paint.jpg

I bought a 1-1/8” OD x 5/8” ID rubber grommet at Lowes for for $1.04 and added it to the misshaped hole to protect the headlight wires. I patched the lower end of the hole and painted over it. The paint immediately below the grommet appears a bit translucent because it was still a bit wet when the photo was taken
Grommet.jpg

The battery tray arrived this afternoon and I installed it and the hold-down adapter after dinner.
Batter tray.jpg

Then I installed the battery. The new cross-piece holds the battery firmly in place. Yay!
Installed battery.jpg

[Luva65wagon]

Dennis - Fine job on this! I have one of those adapter bracket I still need to install myself.

All of this is bringing back memories of when I converted from fore/aft battery mount to sideways mount like you have, which I guess they did for V8 "destined" cars beginning in '63. Of course they don't make Falcon fender apron patch panels so I used Mustang bits. Anyone wanting to do the same thing I've outlined it starting below (be sure to click on the "thread" in the top right to read all of the tech on this mod. The link below is just the first post on the subject). Hind-sight always being 20/20 I might have done things slightly different if I were to do it again, but this is working out fine so far.

http://www.rainierfalcons.com/forums...3&postcount=66

[SmithKid]

Dennis, looks to me as though your work resulted in a very successful result. This particular piece of the under-hood work was kinda easier for me as I had the engine and most "bits and pieces" out at the time. My skills don't include welding, so a very helpful member (Roger) assisted me with a hand-formed patch and welding. I was fortunate to find a battery that had the "clampdown" bosses molded into the plastic and so used the clamps to hold the battery in place (which I like for a neat appearance), but maybe this isn't a possibility for the round-body cars without doing what Roger did. But, bottom line.... yer lookin' good.

[ew1usnr]

This particular piece of the under-hood work was kinda easier for me as I had the engine and most "bits and pieces" out at the time.

I was glad to get the battery back in place. It had taken a week and a half for the new battery tray to be delivered and was I going through Falcon withdrawal. I was able to drive my Falcon to work this morning and now all is right with world.

As per Gene's valuable suggestion, after dinner this evening I scrubbed the underside of the battery area with detergent to remove dirt and grease and then rinsed it with a garden hose. That is easier said then done. Imagine lying on your back in the driveway while spraying the inside of a fender with a garden hose. Then I went and had a couple of beers with my sympathetic late model T-Bird and Mustang enthusiast neighbor while the water dried. Then I added two coats of rust neutralizer to the underside of the battery area.
Second Coat of Underside.jpg

Tomorrow I will follow this with a coat of primer. After that I will add a final coat of semi-gloss back paint.

[ew1usnr]

I painted the underside of the battery tray area with rust neutralizer and waited 24 hours for it to dry.

2 Dried Rust Neutralizer Dried.jpg

Then I painted it primer and waited 24 hours for it to dry.

3 Rustoleum Primer.jpg

Then I painted it with semi-gloss black paint and waited for it to dry.

Black paint on underside.jpg

Then I took the battery out and moved the hold down towards the radiator so that the cross piece was centered over the battery. I scrubbed the battery with detergent and rinsed it with a hose while I had it out.

Re-positioned cross piece (2).jpg

I think that I am done now.