Battery Tie Down?

The 84 308 I recently picked up has an optima red top up front that is just sitting in place. There are no straps or ties of any sort holding it down. What kind of mechanism did ferrari use to secure these? I need to get that battery held in place.

 

Search on "battery toe clamp" for several threads.

 

It's a wedge clamp that clamps the base at the bottom........fastened by a bolt into a plate on the framing members.

 

It has a bottom bracket that attaches to the lower lip of most batteries. It wedges the battery in and lockes it down with 1 bolt

 

Yes, it's in front of the battery facing the radiator.

 

Or else it & it's bolt are rattling around inside your spoiler.


Found mine down there after I'd had the car for 4 years & needed to fix the spoiler. Hold-down was a tad rusty, but a thorough sand blasting & POR15 treatment solved that. BTW, POR15 is battery acid resistant.

 

Any pics of this posted around anywhere?

 

Here's a photo of the battery tie down taken from the Top Front of the 308.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks Mike

 

Ross,

You'll be pleased with the Optima Red Top. I intstalled mine 5 years ago and do not use a Battery Tender. I do drive my 308 regularly and the battery has always provided full cranking power.

The battery clamp you see pictured will just barely engage the lip at the base of the battery as there is some interference by the the central cylinder. Play with the clamp a bit, tighten the bolt securely and it will engage.

Barry

 

Barry, I am glad that I was not the only one who had problems keeping the Optima clamped down. I never could get mine to stay in place for very long. I guess I didn't have the patience to fiddle with it long enough to get it to hold tight.

 

That clamp was designed long before the Optima was even thought of, Carl. I did get my clamp to engage securely and it has stayed that way for the past five years, even with track use. If it hadn't, I was prepared to fabricate a new clamp to acommodate the Optima.