Quick question on the battery tray support that is under the fender. Does it come off or is it supposed to be part of the fender?
I just looked at one here. It looks like it is spot-welded in at least 4 areas. Look at it from underneath and you will see what I mean.
CaptC- thanks I just couldn't tell if it was just rusted on or not. Didn't want to "try" and pry it off and ruin it. LOL thanks 71Gold- yep it is the bracket/support from underneath the battery that it bolts too.
So is it a separate piece and I should try to get off or was yours just gone and you needed to replace it. It is not rusted out but starting too, so want to try and prevent future issues
It is a separate piece and almost rusted gone. http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb...S54H1BSXVQ71923623936b~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50001018o#
You would need to drill out the spot welds. There are specialized spot weld cutters where you drill a small hole in the center of the weld, and then the outer ring cuts around the weld to release one panel from the other. Using one of these cutters right, you only cut the bigger hole in the panel you are removing and it still leaves a lot of the other to reweld to. an example .... https://www.amazon.com/Kaufhof-RM19...=1517829180&sr=8-10&keywords=spot+weld+cutter BTW .... your car looks really well preserved. Old school batteries were not kind to the battery trays and aprons. They would leak acid there. What does yours look like from the top? My car is pretty solid, but that whole surface that the brace is welded to is missing. My battery tray was pretty much just the outer rim and the brace. Acid just ate mine up, long before I got my car. One of my next projects ...
Thanks for the clarification again. Here is a pic of the top and tray. I am going clean up and paint it with bedliner. There a little rust but overall I think in good shape.
You are really lucky with the condition of that apron. The tray isn't that bad either. Rather than trying to remove that brace, I would leave it in place. Grind the paint off of it and around it, the same with the apron. Then spray Ospho on the rust. That is a heavy-duty rust convertor. Then you can prime and paint over that. If you want a fresh battery tray, you can use reproduction trays for a 68 Mustang and transfer your bracket over to it (minor spot welding). You can probably buy one for $20. It is outlined in this tech article on the board .... http://mmb.maverick.to/resources/how-to-battery-tray-replacement.145/ Also, I think 68-69 Torino/Fairlane use the same tray too. I have a repop here waiting to go in after the bracket swap.
