What battery!!!?

[gazzab]

I have rung round everywhere !!! No luck getting a battery!! ANyone got any advices? I could go to racing green next week and get one from them (£72).
National reckon the Varta fits (and they charge £10 fitting!!! - not that I would let them near). But have read that they dont fit! And they are same price as Racing Green.
Cant find a Unipart one anywhere in surrey.
The Optima (?) Yellow Tops seem to be specialist only.
Anyone got any ideas ?????
I assume Halfwits is NOT worth trying!?
thanks
Gary

[Extra 300 Driver]

My car is running on a Halfords battery, and has been for some time. They do a fitting service for £5 which I took them up on. You should have seen the head scratching once they saw then car!

But they did it well, and for once was most impressed.

[gazzab]

I bought the 072 from Halfords - it is exactly the same as my last battery (except it doesnt have a bottom lip). So SHOULD fit. Just given up after 1/2 hr of trying.

[purpleheadedcerb]

I've got a 072 but its not a Halfords one. I think Liam bought a Halfords 072 a few weeks ago. Maybe he can advise.

[Garethgtt]

I took mine out and took it to halfords-- found the one person that knows his sh1t and have one from there...quite happy with it to be honest...but do the fitting and taking out yourself--just take the battery down.

either that or spend a couple of hundred and get a yellow top

[gazzab]

Taking the 072 out was easy (with a crow bar)
But tried putting the halfords one in (same size) and I cant get it in.
It was dark ish and I had 3 hrs sleep last night (bauhaus rocked!) so not best state of mind and body to tackle.
I fitted the neg cable, slid the battery in and it is now at an angle resting on top of the silly nut that is glued in place for the clamp and bolt. I cant see how I am going to get it to go past the nut. I am tempted to whack the nut off and then araldite it back on afters!!! Help!!!!!!!

[Extra 300 Driver]

gazzab said:

Taking the 072 out was easy (with a crow bar) But tried putting the halfords one in (same size) and I cant get it in. It was dark ish and I had 3 hrs sleep last night (bauhaus rocked!) so not best state of mind and body to tackle. I fitted the neg cable, slid the battery in and it is now at an angle resting on top of the silly nut that is glued in place for the clamp and bolt. I cant see how I am going to get it to go past the nut. I am tempted to whack the nut off and then araldite it back on afters!!! Help!!!!!!!

So the battery seems too long? I take it you have checked to see if the battery box is clean, an doesnt have a block of wood in there as I have seen before?

[gazzab]

there is nothing blocking, no rubbish, no wood and the neg cable is fitted per old battery. New battery us same size as old BUT old one was really hard to get out ie had to use crow bar to lever it over the nut for clamp.

[mrsmadmark]

On mine the 'nut' was flush with the body. Do you mean the bolt that holds the battery bracket in place? mine actually snapped off whilst i was undoing it, so had to drill and tap it to fit a new bolt. (it may even have been a stud not a bolt, cant quite remember, so try undoing it. If you're going to leave it 'till tomorrow, soak it in wd40 over night).

edited to add by MR mad mark

>> Edited by mrsmadmark on Saturday 4th February 19:23

[gazzab]

Oh mine might be different !!! I guess mine might have been amdended to fit the prev battery with a lip at the bottom.

The bolt for the clamp meets a nut that is effectively two nuts glued together proud of the battery tray floor. So I guess it is about 2 inches tall. I might whack it off tomorrow!!

[mrsmadmark]

My new 072 was slightly shorter, approx 1", than the one that came off, so maybe your old battery was a short one too and the previous owner modified the bracket assembly to fit the battery?

Mad Mark

[Extra 300 Driver]

gazzab said:

Oh mine might be different !!! I guess mine might have been amdended to fit the prev battery with a lip at the bottom. The bolt for the clamp meets a nut that is effectively two nuts glued together proud of the battery tray floor. So I guess it is about 2 inches tall. I might whack it off tomorrow!!

Can you take a picture?

[gazzab]

the two batteries are identical length. So I guess prev owner modified it once battery was on so to get clamp in place.
will post pic!!!

[gazzab]

Taken outside at 8pm so not great quality. 1st one shows side view of battery resting on the nuts.
Second shows nuts (!) from where battery should be located (ie with fuel rails and engine behind nuts).

Is this a mod specific to my car?

[mrsmadmark]

So is that the bracket still in place? and has this or the old battery got a 'lip' on the bottom of it for the bracket to hook over? it doesn't look as though there is one in the pic!!

Mad mark

[gazzab]

The bracket is not in the photos and there is no lower lip on new battery for bracket to fix to (but I think that is fine as bracket will just push battery towards wing).
Anyone else got nuts like mine?

[mrsmadmark]

I dont think it will help much, but here are a couple of pics of my set up.
Although it looks like it, I wasn't pointing at the bracket, just holding the wires out of the way.

And a view from the top down.

As you can see I dont have the lip either (072 halfords), which is why the bracket is twisted onto the battery.
Mad Mark

Ps you do realise that just a few of us will be passing near you (surrey) tomorrow, on our way to V.Waters so how many of us do you want to drop by and give you a hand. he he!!

[gazzab]

thanks for the photos!!!
Looks like you dont have the 'tray' in place ?
Also looks like you have a different bracket to me.
I cant tell if you have a flush or raised nut for the bolt to attach to.

[gazzab]

in fact your looks like you have the opposite set up to mine ie you have a bolt coming up and you attach a nut to it?

[gazzab]

No one else changed battery and fitted a new 072??
Had a really good look and cant see how the last battery ever fitted.
My car appears to have the 'tray' ie an oblong sheet of metal fixed with two self tapping bolts (that wont undo - so maybe they arent self tapping and the nuts for these are just turning under the fixing (and you cant get to the nuts)) with effectively two nuts welded to it for a bolt to fix to to hold the clamp in place.
Just cant squeeze battery past the nuts.
Cant remove the plate.
Cant knock the nuts off (loads of welds).
I dont think that the nuts could have been welded with battery in situ (ie near fuel rails and battery in the way) so a magician must have fitted last battery!! (or the plate was fitted (slid back in) after the battery was in situ.


>> Edited by gazzab on Sunday 5th February 13:03