Has anyone replaced their battery Tray? If so let me know what all was involved.

I'm talking about replacing the sheet metal, I see you can buy them and that its welded in. It's the only rust on my car and its pretty bad, it got away from me when I wasn't looking. I scraped off what I could and painted it with encapsulation paint for now.

Can you do it without taking off the front clip? I've got access to a welder and know how to weld that isn't an issue.

 

If you look close at your battery tray you will see that it is part of your front fender support.
So just buying one and then just tack-welding it in is not going to work. I had my done a few years ago after my battery almost dropped on the front tire. It was almost like major body work. Uni-Body cars have strange support menbers that are important and some times a simple thing is not so simple.

 

Thanks, I've got the equipment to do it just wondering what all has to come off the car to get to the weld points.

Just looking at it I would think hood, fender would need to come off, but wasn't sure about the front bumper cover etc. The radiator support, and its mounting points are solid, there is a little rust leading into the inner fender but that is salvageable.

Looking at the replacement part though the weld flanges look to be accessible from under the hood.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/82-92-FIREBI...item2a143029e1

 

I just took mine out, its spot welded in. I took a plasma cutter and cut the middle out so I could remove the spot welds one side at a time. You should not have to remove any panels if you want to replace the spot welds with plug welds. If you want to replace spots welds with spot welds the fender may have to come off so the spotwelder has access. As a disclaimer, I left the front lip of the tray in as a support for some sheet metal work.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...type=3&theater

 

Thanks, your link isn't working.

A plug welder is the one thing I don't have access to... I was thinking of just doing a few welds around the edge with a TIG, not a a full seam. I'll have to check around about the plug welder I'm sure one of my friends has one.

Since its mainly just the bottom of the battery tray it should be a clean replacement on my car.

I guess a follow up question is to what to paint the area with once done, I'm tempted to use some bed liner to coat the new tray.

 

i cut a big hole in mine and used a 4th gen coolant overflow tank which is my new battery tray.

 

POR-15 should do the job ......

 

I was trying to host pictures on facebook which aparently doesnt work. I was trying to show you a picture of mine removed so you could see where the flanges/spot welds are. I have a Camaro which is drivers side but concept is the same. Some spot welds very obvious while the ones near the wheel well were impossible to find, even after sanding over them. Sometimes you can find "hidden" ones by sanding. I recomend using a spot weld cutter bit, they can range from $6-$20 depending where you buy. For spot welds they sell a air punch (8mm)for $30 or so. You could also just use a twist bit (8mm). I have never TIG welded, but you should be able to TIG the plugs welds. For appearence you grind the plug welds flush. You can use a 3" grinder with 36 or 50 grit, the 36 will remove material faster and with less heat. As with any sheet metal weld (except spot) you will have to apply either fiberglass filler or "all metal" filler over the weld for corrosion protection. Small amount of filler or glaze may be needed where you grinded (over fiberglass or all metal). From the factory the area would have been body color. You could mask and paint the area. I have never used por-15. My problem with bedliner is there is no way to blend a repair area, and if you ever want it remove it can be a painful process.

 

Very true on removing the bed liner stuff, but I was just thinking the area under the battery that has the most rust, but hey its lasted 22 years so probably just standard painting will work.

The firebird is on the driver side also at least in 89.

I may wait until I have the engine out next year or so to rebuild it since I should have the rust stopped or at least slowed with the encapsulating paint. When I have the engine out I will painting the engine bay and possibly the underside of the car. Its been garage kept for the last couple of years but before that it was out in the elements 24x7.

Facebook photos only work with friends, you should be able to upload it here though.

 

I'm in the process of restoring my GTA and I just replaced the battery tray. I did it at the same time as the radiator support, which made it a little easier to drill out the front spot welds. It can be done with the radiator support in place though. You should also be able to leave all of the body parts in place.

I'm assuming your battery tray is isn't just surface rusted and is starting to rot through. Removing and treating surface rust is always easier than replacing welded in panels. If replacement is neccessary, then this is the basic procedure.

You may need to remove some simple items like the inner fender liner, fender support bracket that is bolted underneath, etc. Use a spot weld drill bit where you can to only cut the 1st layer of metal. Grind any rust on the metal underneath, use weld through primer between the new battery tray and the existing metal. Drill holes in the new battery tray in the same location and size as the spot welds and then weld the holes to make "plugs". Either a TIG or MIG welder will work, but a MIG will be easier. Grind the welds flat, fill any small holes in the weld with All Metal, prime and paint.

If this is the only rust on the car, then you are in good shape.

 

Thanks. Yes except for some minor surface rust here and there under the hood there isn't any rust. I've had it since 97 so every few years I've gone through the bottom of the car and found any road rash and fixed before it rusted. Also living in GA where I don't have to deal with road salt helps.

The battery must of had a boil over at some point, I don't recall it occurring when I owned the car. The rust isn't through the tray but around some of the factory holes you can bend it with your finger and after scraping off the rust to paint it as a stop gap the metal is quite thin. It is short lived and figured since I will be pulling the engine in the next year or so, go ahead and get these parts to replace.

There is some minor rust in the bottom radiator support but that is repairable.

Even when I had the gas tank out it was clean above the tank.