Battery hold down questions

[warren55]

I've tried my best to find out what "stock" was for the battery hold down for my car, but so far it's been pretty vague. Of course, somewhere along the line things have been changed, lost or broken and I have a piece of plywood for a tray and some threaded stock going through my inner fender with a piece of thin metal (homemade) running between them.

From what I've been able to determine, there was originally a piece like this riveted to the inside fender? http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~dyndetail~Z5Z5Z50001003a~Z5Z5Z5AAFXD~P15.00~~~~S3PO02H3IH13119147750H~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50001003a

And a J hook going through something and a tie down like this on top of the battery? http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~dyndetail~Z5Z5Z50001003a~Z5Z5Z5AAQTT~P20.00~~~~S3PO02H3IH13119147750H~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50001003a

Any insight or pictures would certainly help! Thanks, as always!

[Devildog]

On my 75 the battery hold down uses the components you show in your posting. The threaded hook rods are a bit too long to match the height of the installed battery. Someday I will cut them off 1 inch and rethread, just using a spacer now.

Joe

[warren55]

On my 75 the battery hold down uses the components you show in your posting. The threaded hook rods are a bit too long to match the height of the installed battery. Someday I will cut them off 1 inch and rethread, just using a spacer now.

Joe

Any chance I could get you to send me some pictures? I've had no luck trying to find some of what it's supposed to look like!

My email is: wcortesi@gmail.com

[Devildog]

Any chance I could get you to send me some pictures? I've had no luck trying to find some of what it's supposed to look like!

My email is: wcortesi@gmail.com

I will shoot a pic of the top side, but it is sort a pain to pull the battery to see where the triangle piece is rivet to the fiberglass wheel well. I will make a little sketch and we can take it from there.

Joe

[warren55]

That would be great. I'll take any help I can get!

[WayneC]

That would be great. I'll take any help I can get!

I removed the battery on my '71 today and took a couple of pics for you...

http://s1032.beta.ph...brary/71 Avanti

1339477 is the same battery retainer I have on my '71, not sure where the plate you referenced would be,

(maybe below the forward post/rod)... I'll see if I can get below the car for a few pics.

Edited March 12, 2013 by WayneC

[warren55]

Thank you, it's good to see that mines not too far from where it started out. Which, I think, is less than ideal. Right now I'm modifying a plastic battery tray with hold downs to fit in the area. I had to cut a lot off the back of the tray, but I think it will help. At least the J hooks will be pulling on the tray instead of the fiberglass. I'll try to post some pictures when I get done!

[warren55]

Well, every solution breeds new problems. I bought a plastic tray, but had to cut it down to fit into the allotted space. I decided to mount the plywood piece that was in the car when I got it since it gives me a good base to mount the tray to. I mounted it through the bottom of the fender to the battery brace I mounted to the frame. So far, so good!

The problem is once I mount the battery tray I'm going to have a heck of a time getting the battery in or out of the car since the "J" hooks mount to the bottom of the battery tray and can't come out without removing the tray! It can be done, but if this picture comes through, you can see the scrape marks on the inner fender from trying to finesse the battery in.

[WayneC]

Well, battery tray or no battery tray, you have the problem finessing the battery. Use a mechanics fender protector to try to avoid the scrapes. Removing the radiator reservoir and its connecting hoses gives you more room for a straight shot for the battery, but it's not easy removing those items, either.

[WayneC]

Here's a photo of the bottom of the battery box on my '71 Avanti (modified by me to add a round rubber support bumper)

http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/a408/waynecpb/71%20Avanti/71Avantibatterybox_zpsb4cca794.jpg

And a photo of the bottom of my '80 Avanti, which is different (has a better support, which I believe to be as-built by the factory)

http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/a408/waynecpb/71%20Avanti/81Avantibatterybox_zps163628aa.jpg

[warren55]

It's interesting the different bracing you see in different years and different solutions to what is obviously an inherent problem! Here's the brace I came up with:

[bobconant]

I was reviewing this forum topic and I see that Devildog states that his battery holddown rods are too long and he is thinking of cutting them shorter and rethreading. When I bought my car there was a spacer on top of the battery so that the holddown apparatus did actually hold the battery in place. This spacer is an "H" shaped plastic piece that lays on top of the battery. I later replaced the battery with a Sears Diehard and found that the spacer was not needed. Apparently the new battery is about a half inch higher than the old one. I suggest that rather than cutting the rods shorter (you may need them longer later) look around to try to find one of these spacers. I originally thought it was an original Avanti part for my 82 but I suspect that it may be a generic piece available from a battery supplier or auto parts house that can be purchased. It isn't high tech and you could probaby make one. It just needs to be made from something that won't compress much and probably shouldn't be conductive. I hope these comments help.

Bob in Bradenton FL