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In my 1979, I'm going to be moving the battery from the driver's side compartment to the passenger's side compartment. As I was cleaning out the storage compartments/battery box, I notices some cracking and flaking of the fiberglass (nothing major but needs to be repaired regardless). Since I'm in working on it, I decided it wouldn't hurt to reinforce the floor compartment while I'm at it.
What I have in mind is to cut a piece of 1/8" aluminum plate (I have it on hand, it's light and it's stiff) in the shape of the compartment floor, pop rivet and bond (with a bonding adhesive) it to the floor, and lay a few sheets of glass over it to fuse/blend it into the body. Then when I mount my battery mount, I'll drill through the "new" aluminum/fiberglass floor and sandwich the floor with a plate on the underside. My thought behind this is that with the aluminum bonded in, it should prevent any/all cracking of the floor going forward (don't need any batteries falling out on the road ).
Any reason why I shouldn't do this?
Last edited by ChrisLSx; Sep 24, 2020 at 05:42 PM.
At some point they used to sell metal plates to put there as an anti-theft item. "Apparently" they could poke a hole through the battery box and rupture the battery, all the acid would drain out and then the alarms wouldn't work....
If you want to strengthen it up- and don't want it to de-laminate away from the metal-
Look at using some perfed ss- that will let the fiberglass bond to itself.
I used the perfed material when I made my console- it really stiffened it up-
WOW! That's an excellent idea! That was kind of my concern with sticking a solid plate in there, so thanks for the suggestion. Guess I'll be hitting up the metal yard tomorrow.
Another idea would be to lay a sheet of Fiberglass PCB Material on the bottom, 1/16" thick is very strong. You can purchase it from McMaster Carr. Choose your color.
Another idea would be to lay a sheet of Fiberglass PCB Material on the bottom, 1/16" thick is very strong. You can purchase it from McMaster Carr. Choose your color.
So, GM put the battery on the driver’s side for a couple of reasons.
- Offset the weight from the engine/transmission being mounted over on passengers side.
- Jack is on passenger side which makes access safer on the side of the road.
So, GM put the battery on the driver’s side for a couple of reasons.
- Offset the weight from the engine/transmission being mounted over on passengers side.
- Jack is on passenger side which makes access safer on the side of the road.
But those reasons don’t apply to my vehicle anymore because:
- I’m swapping a big block with motor plates and centering the engine and transmission.
- I don’t carry a jack or spare tire on any of my road vehicles (with free roadside/towing, it’s safer and easier to just call my insurance).
The right rear has always been the best place for a battery. Drag racers have been doing it for years, GM did it on the C6 and C7, BMW does it on all their vehicles, etc.
Last edited by ChrisLSx; Sep 25, 2020 at 10:45 AM.
Reinforce Battery Box Floor
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