Battery tray ugly

[Sailor Bob]

Any thoughts on how to handle this? It's a classic case - all the rest of the car looks good but the battery area looks like crap. It sounds solid underneath, but to tell the truth - I half afraid to poke at it too hard. The tray is showing signs of rot through the panel beneath is just ugly. I have a few jobs in the works now and I don't feel like taking on steel replacement as well if I can avoid it. Maybe if I ignore it, it will go away

The car won't ever see rain again (maybe never did befor), I wonder if it will be trouble to leave it as it is until next year. Does it need to be washed down or is that more trouble? Anyway ideas/thoughts are welcome.

Rick

Cali 4/77

[beandip]

Rick I am going to send you a PM on this . What I did because I only had one small dime size hole from rust through . I removed the tray and treated the whole area with POR paint. I had the hole repaired with a metal patch welded in first then used stainless bolts with locktite and bolted the tray back in . this way there is POR between the tray and the inner fender , if it were welded in , the heat would have burned away the POR protection .

[Victor Laury]

I'm about to do this myself. Bought a very fancy spot weld cutter from Snap-on tools. Gotta borrow somebody's right-angle-drive drill to get at some of them.

I was thinking of epoxying the tray back in after the rust treatment and repair, But Gary's idea of SS bolts has got me thinking... Or maybe a combination of the two?

[240ZX]

I'm about to do this myself. Bought a very fancy spot weld cutter from Snap-on tools. Gotta borrow somebody's right-angle-drive drill to get at some of them.

I was thinking of epoxying the tray back in after the rust treatment and repair, But Gary's idea of SS bolts has got me thinking... Or maybe a combination of the two?

Good thinking Victor! For a moment there, I thought you were working on a boat.....using epoxy!

[Ed]

If you don't do anything this year atleast treat the area, neutralize any acid on the metal and give it a good cleaning.

[MikeW]

In addition to Ed's advice, make sure you get the later model plastic battery tray with the drain tube. I think that most battery tray area rust is from acid, not rain. Of course, a modern sealed battery will hopefully prevent the problem moving forward.

[beandip]

just a word of caution with a spotweld cutter . Be vary careful with it. It is vary easy to go through the inner fender when cutting the weld . I did three times and the holes had to be welded up . By removing the tray and doing all of this , you then can POR the under side of the tray and do a decent job of finishing the whole area . I also modified the stray support slightly so now it drains well when I wash the engine bay , insted or holding water as they do stock . It is not visible but it is something to think about when you have the battery support removed . :laugh: Gary

[Sailor Bob]

Hey Gary, Tom, Ed, Victor, Mike

Thanks for the responses, if I'm reading this right it needs a washdown, remove the tray and POR treatment. By the way POR stands for??

Have you ever seen any resonable facsimile aftermaket or OEM Battery tray replacement? It seems like a common problem and most other problem areas seem to have a solution (floors, fenders, even frames). My tray has seen better days.

[MikeW]

By the way POR stands for??

Paint Over Rust

http://www.por15.com/

A lot of us have used this and been happy with the results. There are other products out there as well that have similar applications.

Have you ever seen any resonable facsimile aftermaket or OEM Battery tray replacement? It seems like a common problem and most other problem areas seem to have a solution (floors, fenders, even frames). My tray has seen better days.

I've never seen an aftermarket or OEM replacement. The best option seems to be to find a good donor. We've even joked about swapping the good inner fenders with our colleagues in Australia as their battery acid is on the other side.

[Sailor Bob]

Well it looks pretty obvious now. Thanks

[Victor Laury]

Well the tray is out, but now the extent of the damage is very evident. Before I started, I could see only a small perforation. After banging and drilling to get the tray out it was obvious that the whole area was held together by rust! where once was a little hole, there now is a fist sized (my ham fist) hole. Found some right gauged steel, so I'm going to sart beating out a peice to fit.

[gogriz91]

I've got he same problem with rust in the battery tray area, I just don't know how bad it is. Beandip, can I get a copy of whatever you PM'd Rick?