New battery for my 348

There is plenty of room to get a jack under there. Take the wheel off and the rear portion of the wheel arch and you are in...

 

You can jack up the driver's side only if you want. It doesn't take much to get the wheel off the ground. I would position the jack under the frame. I would not lift using the suspension pieces as support.

 

If you are having trouble getting a floor jack under the frame you can drive the car onto a flat 2x6 to get you a little more clearance under the car.
A good rear jack point looks like this:

BT
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Back, front....doesn't matter.

 

No no no. In the first place, you can get the battery out through the top if you know what is holding it down. Yes, it's heavy, but it can be done. If you are taking it out through the wheel well, your jack (and jackstand!!) should go under the left rear corner of the subframe, rolling the jack under the car from behind. Then take off the LR tire, then the rear section of the inner fender liner.

It's very easy if you have a trolley jack. If you have a scissor jack, they are dangerous! If you have a bottle jack, they are also very unsteady, and kind of tall to get under the subframe.

I'll take pictures for you if you need some friendly guidance on this.

 

I would just take it out from the top.

But..........if you must jack it up from the bottom. Place the jack stand under the rear corner of the engine cradle. Then place the chassis stand under the engine cradle, on the same side of course.

Always ensure your safety by using chassis stands ANYTIME you jack your vehicles up.
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Like Miltonian and Pap said, take it out from the top! Here are a couple of tips:

1. Remove the backing off the tail light cover to have a little extra space when extracting the battery.
2. Slip a piece of twine under the battery with each end coming up opposite sides; grab both ends of the twine with one hand to provide the leverage to hoist the battery and use your other hand to guide it out.
3. Replace with a smaller battery of the same specification to make it easier to service in the future.

 

I bought a battery at Costco 8 years ago, it's still going strong. And it has a built-in handle, which will make it easy to pull it out from above. You will find one nut attaching a hold-down bracket on the front of the battery. It can be reached from above with an extension, or reached from the wheel well after removing the splash shield. Good point about removing the cover plate from the LR tail light housing, it DOES give some extra room to work.

 

8 years from a battery?? Wow!!

 

PAP don't you replace your timing belt the same as the battery.... every 8 years????

Oh wait, different thread.... sorry.

Mike in Kuwait

 

PAP, by the way, great photos...very informative for new owners...

Now, where can I get 50 year old jack stands like yours?????

hehehe

Mike in Kuwait

 

Thankyou for your kind words Mike.


50yr old jack stands??

They are around 8yrs old IIRC.

Although, they HAVE seen around 50yrs worth of work on them so far!!

A LOT of mechanical work goes on at my brothers place.

 

I jerked mine out from the top and got a lot of satisfaction out of it, save some bloody knuckles and a few choice expletives. I replaced it with something that looks a little more like a lawn mower battery.

 

I was thinking the same thing they look pretty flimsy my stands that are 15yrs old have a better design than those

sorry to bust your chops but you of all people should have the latest gold plated ones

You know the ones that are specially made for PAP by Versace....

 

Hahaha! No need to be sorry, its all good brother!

I dont know why I have those, I just do I suppose?

I have 4 of them, all work excellent. I think they are all rated to 1500kg each also. Good enough for my needs.

I use them a lot, so I am glad I do not have to lug around the big heavy 3000kg stands that I used to use in the workshop.

 

Unfortunately I'm there too this weekend. But, the Garage Queen is a '95 Spider. Battery in front left. Will be attempting to jack and pull wheel. Love those Italian designs. Any and all hints are welcome. Have done my homework on batteries and Battery Tender, etc. My turn.

Nice shots, PAP. What's w/ all the H2O on the garage floor?

 

Easy job to do Hadley.

Jack front up and remove wheel and wheel well plastic trim.
Very easy to get at.

All that water in my pic was after I investigated and fixed an oil leak from a loose fitting on my suction hose from oil tank to the engine.

I thought the copper washer was worn, but I just gave it a little "nip" up and it has been fine ever since.
I cleaned under the engine with degreaser and then hosed it all off.

 

I have an Optima red top battery in my Spider - love it!!!

 

had a Yellow top in mine....never had any issues after that!