Battery Tray Rebuild

[pjmoreland]

The original battery tray in my truck had some rust holes in the center plate that the battery sits on. I found a NOS replacement plate #15615763. I drilled out the spot welds and then welded the parts back together. I also added an A/C bracket (provided by member 1968C30) since I'm planning on adding A/C soon.

I center-punched all of the spot welds and then drilled them out first with a 1/8" bit and then 1/4"

[pjmoreland]

I cleaned up the side brackets with a wire wheel. I clamped the side brackets to the top plate with Vise Grips and then welded the components back together by filling the drilled holes. After attaching one side bracket, I installed the partial assembly in the engine bay temporarily to determine the best alignment front-to-back for the other bracket. It turned out that the best was with the large holes that are both in the top plate and the side brackets aligned. One set of these holes was not well-aligned originally.

[pjmoreland]

I ground the welds flat on the side of the inner bracket that will be visible when installed in the engine bay. I also ground the welds flat on the underside where the A/C bracket would go. I then welded on the A/C bracket. I used the remnant scrap piece of the donor battery tray that was previously attached to the A/C bracket as a guide for positioning the bracket.

[pjmoreland]

The last step, of course, was to prime and paint it. I will give it a few days to dry before reinstalling it in my truck.

[cericd]

Oooo Weee! That looks like some damn fine work. Kudos!

[72SB]

yeah its the bottom of the PS fender that takes a punch from battery acid...so the tray itself gets beat up also

Nice job OP

[72c20customcamper]

Nicely done.

[mr.mud1]

great work.looking very nice.

[68 C10 Driver]

Very well done, congrats!

[pjmoreland]

Thanks, guys.

Originally Posted by 72SB

yeah its the bottom of the PS fender that takes a punch from battery acid...so the tray itself gets beat up also

The bottom of my radiator support has a decent amount of pitting, but fortunately there are no holes. Same with the bottom of the outer fender. There was some rust on the inner fender that I repaired a couple of years ago. Both inner fenders had that same rust issue where a small brace is spot-welded onto the underside.

[MARKDTN]

Very nice! I did similar to a '73 this year. Very satisfying to see it back and holding the battery in instead of wood and bungies.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by MARKDTN

Very nice! I did similar to a '73 this year. Very satisfying to see it back and holding the battery in instead of wood and bungies.

That does sound satisfying. Mine was in like-new condition compared to that.

[leftybass209]

Love it. Nice attention to detail, and who could argue with those results!

[pjmoreland]

Reinstalled. The heater core return hose interferes with the A/C bracket on the battery tray, so I will need to replace it with a longer hose.

[Peanut74]

Nice job on your repair. I was not so lucky. My box was rotted out along with my inner fender and core support. So I made a box and moves it to the frame rail.