How to tie battery down?

[Leland Pate]

Ok, my poor car evidentally came with the rare Free-floating battery option because it is not held down in any way.

Before the hill climb in May, I need to find a way to secure it.
I bought an original bracket from Ian of Ianseuroparts... but unfortunately, it did me no good.
The original battery would cost me over $200. The PO installed a same size but different battery, which I just replaced with another same size but non-stock battery in March.
This new battery does not have the lip at the bottom so the factory bracket won't help.

Has anyone else had this problem?
What have you come up with???

[pbs911]

My SC came with that same free floating option. I picked up the parts from Pep boys for about $19. A new battery tray, that utilized the OEM battery mounting points; a very tough rubber battery cross-mount (not a bungee cord) and two long metal hooks to connect the rubber strap to the new tray. Don't forget the terminal covers as well. It's not OEM, but the battery is not going anywhere and it looks nice. Also if the batteyr leaks the new tray will protect the car. There is a post from last week were some pics are posted.

[steve911]

Leland--
check out this thread - helped me quite a bit:
follow this.

I just did this this past weekend. As was suggested, go to a local Pepboys, Kragen etc. They've got lots of different parts. I bought a bunch of stuff and brought it all home to see what would work/fit.

The DieHard in my '85 (inherited from the PO) had the lips on the long sides, not the short, so the factory hold downs would not work. I ended up installing a long battery tray (used the factory hold down lips to secure it) and then used rubber tie-downs to come across the short side of the battery. Fender well makes the fit tight, so I had to shave off some of the rubber to fit.

What should have taken less than an hour took almost three (but that's another story).

I can take pics when I get home later.

[J-RAD]

Leland:

I just had to deal with a similar scenario a couple of weeks ago. The PO installed a smaller Interstate battery (i.e. the incorrect battery). I didn't think anything of it (more appropriately, I never checked it) until my DE tech inspection. It was at that point when I found out I didn't have the correct battery...I actually got some help from guys here (see this thread: http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66144 ). Are you sure your car really doesn't have a mounting bracket? I haven't heard of this (but then again there is a lot I don't know ). A portion of the bracket is a permanently mounted rear "lip" mount (right in front of the wheel well bulge/under the fuse box). As you indicated, the other part of the mount (front "lip") bolts into a hole near the front of the car.

I ended up getting the correct battery for my car. It's $103.00 from the Porsche dealer. I could've bought an Interstate battery from the local Firestone dealer for $80 (I would've gone this route but they didn't have it in stock and I was in a time crunch). I will say that getting the correct size battery INTO the car was somewhat of a chore...it is a VERY tight fit! As far as alternatives are concerned, Chuck Moreland has a photo in the link I provided...it is similar to pbs911's suggestion. The issue I was concerned with here was making sure the tie-down was secure enough. I couldn't find anything outside of a bungee cord that would be secure enough (as indicated, bungee is NO GOOD at DE type events!...it's not allowed by PCA anyway). Buying the correct battery ensure that the battery would be secure. After my day at the track, I'm glad I did it the right way!

Hope that helps some. Best of luck to you!

[Early_S_Man]

Lee,

Another option, and one that provides a measure of protection from acid spillage ... a plastic marine battery box, which usually includes some kind of polypropylene strap to go around the box and cover. If you use that OEM hold-down from Ian's (or a piece of aluminum angle -- lighter, of course) and run the strap between it and body before tightening the clamp bolt, then the battery won't be going anywhere!

It is probably easiest to leave the cover off the battery box ... so cables are free to be routed more easily. You still have the acid spillage protection, and that is a big plus in my book!

[Argo]

Here's another idea to toss into the pot ... If the rubber straps are too big to fit without shaving, you might want to consider checking out a marine supply store (Westmarine, BoatsUS) for some heavy duty nylon battery hold-down straps. Heavy nylon strapping, very strong, tighten it most of the way by pulling strap through center clamp like a belt through a buckle then pull clamp back to tighten and fasten (like the snap clamps on the air box except lots heavier and stronger). I've been using them to hold in a couple of large marine batteries on a sailboat for years and, even though the boat spends lots of time on its side in heavy seas, they have never stretched or loosened in the slightest. The only question is how acid resistant they'd be if the battery leaked.
The ones I have were sold seperately, don't get the ones that come with the battery boxes as they're just cheap cr@p. You might be able to find the heavy duty ones in an auto parts store; marine stuff generally is more robust, tho, because of the high cyclical stress loads that boats encounter.

Argo
88 Targa

I just read Warren's post - the polypropylene straps that come with the marine box are the ones you should avoid. They're strong when new but age poorly, wear easily and will split and fail when you need them the most (BTDT and it wasn't pretty!).

[ChrisBennet]

I use an Interstate MTP-91 which most any garage should have for well under $100. It is a smaller lighter battery than the stock "truck" battery. The battery box in my Carrera was already drilled and tapped for mounting the smaller battery. I'm told the Porsche ones are made by Dayco and are low quality.
-Chris

[Leland Pate]

Thanks for the ideas guys... I'll let you all know how it turns out.