Re: One thing leads to another and another . . .
The group one 6-volt batteries being sold today don't fill the battery cage as did the originals, and the hold down brackets do not fit all that well. I have always been carefull not to tighten the hold down bolts too tight as it might crack the battery case.
On a tour a few years ago we were in Yellowstone cruising along when smoke came pouring up into the car from the floor boards. We stopped the car and jumped out and fortunately the smoke stopped. When the floorboards were removed we found that the two nuts had backed off and one had completely fallen off the hold down bracket. Somehow the bracket got wedged between the power terminal of the battery and ground. It burned a hole about an inch in diameter in the side of the battery. We patched the battery with duct tape and someone had along an assortment of nuts and bolts.
When I got home from the tour I bought a new battery and removed both threaded posts of the battery mounting and measured and drilled cotter pin holes in them. The castle nuts used for the front backing plates fits the posts. Now when the battery is installed I snug the nuts down to sufficiently hold the battery in place and insert the cotter pins.
Tom Endy
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