1968 Battery tray apron rust repair

[admin]

My HCS has surprisingly little rust considering how many winters it spent in Colorado, but the battery tray area is toast. It's even worse than it appears in the photo. The horizontal shelf that the battery tray bolts to is total swiss cheese and needs to be cut out.



I know replacement battery aprons are available and pretty cheap at around $40. After looking at the area it doesn't seem terribly difficult to replace this whole panel. There are just a lot of time consuming spot welds to drill out.

But I could also just cut out the rusted area and use the aftermarket apron to patch in only what's needed. The upper portion of my apron is very solid.

Has anyone done either of these options? Any advise or tips?

 

[Ruppstang]

My HCS has surprisingly little rust considering how many winters it spent in Colorado, but the battery tray area is toast. It's even worse than it appears in the photo. The horizontal shelf that the battery tray bolts to is total swiss cheese and needs to be cut out.

View attachment 18918

I know replacement battery aprons are available and pretty cheap at around $40. After looking at the area it doesn't seem terribly difficult to replace this whole panel. There are just a lot of time consuming spot welds to drill out.

But I could also just cut out the rusted area and use the aftermarket apron to patch in only what's needed. The upper portion of my apron is very solid.

Has anyone done either of these options? Any advise or tips?

I have the same repair to make on dad's HCS. If you replace the whole panel you will need to remove the fender also the hidden VIN at the top will be lost. I recommend buying the replace and cutting out only what you need. This does not require removing the fender but you do need some welding skills to do this method. It should not be too costly even if you have a shop do the welding.
Marty

 

[Mosesatm]

Jon,
Here is a picture of a battery tray replacement.
http://www.californiaspecial.com/forums/showthread.php?p=72314

 

[admin]

If you replace the whole panel you will need to remove the fender also the hidden VIN at the top will be lost. I recommend buying the replace and cutting out only what you need. This does not require removing the fender but you do need some welding skills to do this method.

Ahhhh. I didn't think about the VIN. Thanks. Yes, I think I'll just do the patch panel. I've had a lot of welding experience fixing up my '72 Bronco. I'm not saying my welds are pretty, but that's what grinders are for! :grin:

Jon,
Here is a picture of a battery tray replacement.
http://www.californiaspecial.com/forums/showthread.php?p=72314

Thanks Arlie. That's a perfect photo. The patched area shown is exactly where mine needs it.

And those butt weld clamps are cool. I've got a few burried somewhere in my garage. Nothing like the right tool for the job.

 

[BroadwayBlue]

Thanks for this post Jon and others for the info!

I have a similar repair to tackle on my CS one day.

 

[robert campbell]

My battery area was so bad it got to the core support! What fun that is to drill and replace both the battery and core support. Did it the same time I did the complete left rear quarter all the way to include the door jam and outer wheel house. And both trunk floor extensions and the lower right quarter area patch....

Talk about a lot of spot welds!!

Rob

 

[68sunlitgold]

Am I off here, but the VIN number is on the driver side under the fender...not the passenger side where the battery is.

Doug

 

[rvrtrash]

Hi all. I'm back after a bit of a break. I'm doing the same repair now on my Fairlane. I can tell you that you want to make sure you cut out enough of the old metal. It may appear solid, but will vaporize when you touch a welder to it if you don't cut far enough. Give yourself a couple of inches more than you think you need. When I did my CS, I cut along the top edge of the apron to leave the VIN intact (yes, there is one on the passenger side as well) and did a solid weld along the top, so it wouldn't show, then reproduced the spot welds down the sides and bottom. I wish I had that option on the one I'm doing now, but parts availability isn't near what it is for a Mustang.

Steve

 

[68sunlitgold]

Jon,
I had very severe battery tray rust on my coupe (my GT/CS's twin sister), I imagine it came from both sitting water and battery acid. It even got on the front core support. I had to get both replaced so they took the entire panel (at the time I did not know there was also a VIN# on that side also). Here are a few pics of the piece out of the car and what it looked like completed (sorry for the poor quality, this was prior to digital so I had to scan them in). Good luck!!

Doug

 

[admin]

Thanks for all the photos and advice everyone.

Any opinions on where to buy the replacement battery apron? It looks like there are a few different manufacturer's; on by Dynacorn, a Canadian version and then an import one.

I've been out of the parts shopping game for so long I'm no longer up on who makes the best fitting pieces.

 

[dalorzo_f]

I've had my body/paint shop cut and patch this on 3 cars, I don't weld,. I used the NPD parts as donors for the areas replaced.

No issues on any of them, and far less work to patch.

If done properly just as good as replacing panels, and to me has the added benefit of leaving more of the original car intact...