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Battery is in and wired up

drooartz

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Spent about 6 hours in the garage today, and got the battery wired in and the transmission drained and refilled (including changing the OD screen). Pulled the old battery cable and did some quick measuring, then it was off to the local parts store to see what was available. They had a 78" cable -- which I thought would be just long enough. Turns out I was right, but with no room to spare. A couple more inches would have been nice, but it worked. Kept the battery on the right hand side (drivers side on this car) to make a shorter cable work. Used a couple huge zip-ties to hold the battery down, and will eventually glue some foam to the cover to make sure the battery can't contact anything conductive in the event of a roll-over.

With a bit of fiddling and measuring I got the new battery box installed and the battery situated and wired in. I'm using one of the Clark & Clark hinged battery covers -- not really necessary but does make it a little easier to get to the battery and tools. Unsnap the carpet, pull up the panel, away you go. The non-battery side has my tool roll and a few spares. Neat.

Battery bin front side, with hole for cable and two small holes for the zip tie.
mgbbattery1.jpg


Battery bin rear side, similar holes.
mgbbattery2.jpg


Battery snugly in place. Used a 20" ground cable, attached to the old metal battery holder using an existing hole. This was exactly as far as the positive cable would reach.
mgbbattery3.jpg


Battery and my stash of tools and parts. Still some room in the other bin for a few more bits if I need to.
mgbbattery4.jpg


Everything tucked up nice and neat.
mgbbattery5.jpg
 
Nicely done, Drew!
 
Is that a stock access panel? Will it fit a 68? Where can I get one? :smile:
 
Access panel comes from Clark & Clark. They make the battery bins too, as well as a bunch of other bits and pieces for our cars. Many of their products can be bought from the usual vendors (Moss, etc) but I've only found the panel direct from them.

The panel should fit all chrome bumper cars, the ones that originally had two 6-volt batteries. It's a nicely finished piece. Not necessary by any means, but does make access a little easier -- nice for getting to the the tools and such that now live on the non-battery side.
 
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