WTB -- Battery tray & hold-down bracket

[garyfish]

I've been doing some occasional repair work on an '86 T4WD DLX owned by a buddy of mine, and one of the elusive parts I've been unable to find for him is a battery tray (and the accompanying hold-down bracket).

The closest Pick-n-Pull to me is 5 hours away in Windsor, CA, so my trips to the wrecking yard are few and far between. I've never seen a hold-down bracket on any of the 1983-88 Tercel 4WD's, 2WD's, or hatchbacks in the yard. The few decent battery trays I've seen at the wrecker have all had one or more of the 3 attaching bolts firmly rusted in place and/or so heavily eroded by extended exposure to battery acid that the only way to get them out -- without damaging or destroying the tray -- would be to drill out the bolt heads. But it seems like I've never had the proper tools with me to accomplish that. My last trip to the Pick-n-Pull -- just last week -- I thought I came prepared with PB Blaster and a set of bolt extractors, but the smallest size I had (8 mm) was still too large to grab two badly eroded bolt heads.

Which brings me here to the Forum. Any help out there?

[Petros]

you usuaqlly have to drill the whole head off, sometimes even drilling right through the battery tray. Than you reintall with over sized plastic or stainless washers.

I have drilled out the rusted out nuts on the body side and just backed them up with stainless nuts, and use a lot of sealant on it to keep acid and moisture out of the joint. I sand blast the rust out, six or seven coats of rustolum primer and than color coat several times.

I have several spare battery trays, most have "over sized" mounting holes that just need washers to hold them into place. You are welcome to one for $5 plus postage. I have used the aftermarket battery bracket by using a spacer (a length of tubing about 1.25" long), a long bolt with a washer on both sides through it, and than make a short straight bracket to go from the side body mount to the top of the spacer. That way you do not need a Tercel battery bracket.

[garyfish]

Thanks Petros! PM on the way to you.

One of my problems is that I never seem to remember to take a cordless drill and the proper-size drill bits on my infrequent visits to the faraway wrecking yard.

Also, good tip about how to modify an aftermarket bracket so it'll work on our beloved T4WD's.