Optima Gel Battery....

Sorry, I must've deleted the photo by accident.

Bill, your handy-work looks very professional! I made a simliar hold-down/padding for my battery, however, I will need to do the repair work that you mentioned. What steps did you take to repair/repaint the battery shelf?

Hey Joe. The acid had seeped into one spot on the shelf. I first cleaned all the paint away from the entire shelf. The acid actually ate a small hole through the metal. I cut a small piece of metal out and had an expert welder TIG in a patch, ground it back and repainted. There, unfortunately, is no quick fix for a rust-through. If the rust (or corrosion) is only surface, or even deep surface, you can get away with grinding away all the bad metal and, if no penetration, just place a body filler then repaint. Since the rubber pad absorbs all the weight of the battery, you probably won't score the filler. I actually painted the entire area that holds the battery with a PPG two-part body-coloured epoxy paint. The colour match is close and it is a lot tougher than basecoat/clearcoat paint. The battery shelf in these cars is one of their many weak spots and I strongly recommend removing the battery, even after every run. Takes 2 minutes to re-install. I have a shelf that holds the battery up off the floor and out of the way. Good luck.

Bill

Being a boater for many years I took a marine battery box and cut the sides down at an angel. They are much thicker than the vacuum formed bat boxes they sell & less than $10 bucks! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif