[Mgs] Securing series 26 battery in the MGB

[PaulHunt73]

The holes for six volt batteries are on the sides of the battery cradles, i.e.
adjacent to the tunnel and the sill, i.e. the hold-down goes across the back
of the battery.  For the 12v battery on rubber bumper cars they are fore and
aft, and that's how you would probably have to fit them or a similar hold-down
with a 12v battery in a 6v cradle.

Think very hard before doing a lash-up.  An acquaintance was a motorway patrol
officer and attended a fatal accident involving an unsecured battery on an
MGB:

  The (car) was totally destroyed following an accident on my section of the
motorway. Unfortunately the driver died in horrifying circumstances which I
believe to have been avoidable. I can now relate the circumstances as the
inquest has recently been closed as I feel there are important lessons to be
noted.
  What happened was the car was travelling along the M6 at about 4am when, for
reasons unknown, the vehicle left the road on the nearside and took out a
traffic sign. The impact caused very severe damage to the underside of the car
as the concrete base to the sign was at cross-member height. This impact also
took out the fuel pipes. Now as we all know the electric fuel pump keeps on
pumping until the electricity supply is cut. With the electrical circuits
still open after the crash this is exactly what happened consequently soaking
the underside of the car, which after the crash had come to rest on its
offside. The driver had suffered serious but not fatal injuries - MGBs are
strong cars - but however he was trapped by one leg.

  When a passing motorist stopped shortly after the accident, he saw the
driver was trapped and able to talk to him as he was conscious. At this time
poor maintenance in the battery compartment then contributed to subsequent
events. The battery was not of the correct size and was only resting on the
battery tray - it was not secured. In the extreme circumstances of the heavy
impact, the battery was able to move and short out on the metal body of the
car because of the lack of secure fixings. Now remember the petrol pump was
still running and pumping fuel out of the fractured fuel lines and tragically
the arcing between the battery and metal body ignited the petrol vapour.

  Now I do not have to go into the details but suffice to say the death of a
conscious person by burning is one of the worst fates you could imagine and I
have had the unfortunate experience of witnessing three such deaths in my
service.

  The moral is clear - secure your batteries properly (gravity is not enough!)
and if possible fit an inertia switch as found on the current MG Efi models
which would cut the power off from the fuel pump in events of a violent
nature. Together these precautions would have prevented the death of this
driver. Enough said. Incidentally the fire was so intense that most metal
items in the area of the seat of the fire actually melted - including a whole
spare wheel.



----- Original Message -----
>I have a 71 MGB with a series 26 battery on the passenger side. The battery
> fits fine. but how do you hold it down? I bought the (12V) Clamp/J-bolt set
> from Moss, but the clamp won't fit into the battery box, and I don't see
any
> holes to hook the J-bolts to.