Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

I wouldn't use aluminum.

It will eventually fail if subjected to load cycling.

Holding a 60#(?) battery in place while bouncing down a trail is just asking for trouble.

And then there's the corrosive nature of most batteries.

Just my thoughts,

I think it is a 75# battery. I checked when it was about all I could do to lift it up in there.

But you've not seen this aluminum channel. It is very strong and surely stronger than the j-hooks. I'll post a pic in a bit.

As for the corrosive gasses, I was planning to powder coat it - heavily.

I'd prefer the plastic hold downs in the right size. I'm just not finding them. Perhaps I'm calling them the wrong thing?

[Gary Lewis]

I think it is a 75# battery. I checked when it was about all I could do to lift it up in there.

But you've not seen this aluminum channel. It is very strong and surely stronger than the j-hooks. I'll post a pic in a bit.

As for the corrosive gasses, I was planning to powder coat it - heavily.

I'd prefer the plastic hold downs in the right size. I'm just not finding them. Perhaps I'm calling them the wrong thing?

Ok, it must be Christmas in April. These L&L's came from Jet-Hot today:

Here's a shot from the piston's point of view showing the inside coating:

And here's the muffler's view:

[grumpin]

Ok, it must be Christmas in April. These L&L's came from Jet-Hot today:

Here's a shot from the piston's point of view showing the inside coating:

And here's the muffler's view:

[salans7]

Ok, it must be Christmas in April. These L&L's came from Jet-Hot today:

Here's a shot from the piston's point of view showing the inside coating:

And here's the muffler's view:

Well it's about time. It's sad you had to send an unhappy email to get them, but at least you did.

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, it must be Christmas in April. These L&L's came from Jet-Hot today:

Here's a shot from the piston's point of view showing the inside coating:

And here's the muffler's view:

But, in spite of the upper of having the headers in-house I'm a bit .... perplexed. It started with taking a pic of this plastic battery hold down that doesn't fit, as shown below. My batteries have a step at the top for which this hold down doesn't allow.

So I then put the piece of 3" aluminum channel in place to show what I'm thinking about for a hold down. And, while doing that I realized that the new battery tray's ears for the J-bolts are not offset like the old ones are. So instead of angling the way the plastic hold down does I need one to go straight back, like this:

However, that led to checking if the channel laid that way would clear the hood. As it turns out, it will. But, in doing so I realized that the positive battery post might not, and if it does it will be CLOSE! So, now the battery needs to be swapped end for end, which means the original negative cable is too short. And the new positive cable is probably too long.

I think I'm going to do some scanning and let this sink in.

[salans7]

But, in spite of the upper of having the headers in-house I'm a bit .... perplexed. It started with taking a pic of this plastic battery hold down that doesn't fit, as shown below. My batteries have a step at the top for which this hold down doesn't allow.

So I then put the piece of 3" aluminum channel in place to show what I'm thinking about for a hold down. And, while doing that I realized that the new battery tray's ears for the J-bolts are not offset like the old ones are. So instead of angling the way the plastic hold down does I need one to go straight back, like this:

However, that led to checking if the channel laid that way would clear the hood. As it turns out, it will. But, in doing so I realized that the positive battery post might not, and if it does it will be CLOSE! So, now the battery needs to be swapped end for end, which means the original negative cable is too short. And the new positive cable is probably too long.

I think I'm going to do some scanning and let this sink in.

My first thought when I saw that post was that the hood was gonna hit it. That's way too close for comfort.

[ArdWrknTrk]

But, in spite of the upper of having the headers in-house I'm a bit .... perplexed. It started with taking a pic of this plastic battery hold down that doesn't fit, as shown below. My batteries have a step at the top for which this hold down doesn't allow.

So I then put the piece of 3" aluminum channel in place to show what I'm thinking about for a hold down. And, while doing that I realized that the new battery tray's ears for the J-bolts are not offset like the old ones are. So instead of angling the way the plastic hold down does I need one to go straight back, like this:

However, that led to checking if the channel laid that way would clear the hood. As it turns out, it will. But, in doing so I realized that the positive battery post might not, and if it does it will be CLOSE! So, now the battery needs to be swapped end for end, which means the original negative cable is too short. And the new positive cable is probably too long.

I think I'm going to do some scanning and let this sink in.

Maybe you should just use the group 65-2 that these battery trays were intended to hold, and have the lip on the bottom to hold them in place?

No hood clearance issues either.

I know the concept of "good enough for everyone else on the planet" doesn't sit well with you.

Sometimes the path of least resistance is there for a reason.

[85lebaront2]

But, in spite of the upper of having the headers in-house I'm a bit .... perplexed. It started with taking a pic of this plastic battery hold down that doesn't fit, as shown below. My batteries have a step at the top for which this hold down doesn't allow.

So I then put the piece of 3" aluminum channel in place to show what I'm thinking about for a hold down. And, while doing that I realized that the new battery tray's ears for the J-bolts are not offset like the old ones are. So instead of angling the way the plastic hold down does I need one to go straight back, like this:

However, that led to checking if the channel laid that way would clear the hood. As it turns out, it will. But, in doing so I realized that the positive battery post might not, and if it does it will be CLOSE! So, now the battery needs to be swapped end for end, which means the original negative cable is too short. And the new positive cable is probably too long.

I think I'm going to do some scanning and let this sink in.

Gary, you are running into the same issues I did on Darth when I went to a group 65 battery. The only difference was I still had the original 1986 battery tray so my top clamp still fit but the brace on the front didn't. What group battery are you trying to cram in there? The group 65 is a flange mount battery which makes all of my Fords take the same battery.

Due to being a flange mount they are easy to reverse for clearance, at least Ford's battery trays are metal, not like the K-car ones.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, you are running into the same issues I did on Darth when I went to a group 65 battery. The only difference was I still had the original 1986 battery tray so my top clamp still fit but the brace on the front didn't. What group battery are you trying to cram in there? The group 65 is a flange mount battery which makes all of my Fords take the same battery.

Due to being a flange mount they are easy to reverse for clearance, at least Ford's battery trays are metal, not like the K-car ones.

Shaun - I didn't notice how close it was. Next time, tell me!

The battery I'm trying to "cram" in there is an Odyssey Extreme 31M PC-2150. It is the battery that came with the truck, and appears to have a lot of life in it. And with the economy taking a dive I'm trying to keep my costs down.

Yes, if I were to buy a new battery I'd probably go with a Group 65 flange-mount. But right now I don't want to spend the money if I don't need to do so. Given that, I'll spend some time creating a hold down to allow me to use this battery since I have the material.

But, reversing the battery looks to be a requirement, so that's gotta happen, and new cables made.

[salans7]

Shaun - I didn't notice how close it was. Next time, tell me!

This is the first time I noticed. I found out with my Ranger, if any part of the battery sticks up past the mounting flange of the fender, you're probably gonna have a bad time. And it looks like the same applies here. You were obviously fine with 80-86 tray since the battery sat lower. But not on the 87-96 tray.