(Words and Photos by Scott Liggett) Anyone who has ever raced in a NHRA sanctioned event knows one of the most basic rules is a proper battery down is necessary to pass tech in any class. Beyond the rules of various racing sanctioning bodies, keeping your car’s battery properly is just smart for safety’s sake. If you are working on an 40 to 50 year old car, you know that the factory battery tray is usually the first thing to rust out.

As I prepped Project Hay Hauler ’67 GMC for this year’s Rocky Mountain Race Week, one of the few things I needed to do was take of the battery hold down. Now, the truck’s original battery tray and hold down bracket were still in great shape and in tact. But, I have had a tech tell that was not good enough for racing. Not wanting to tempt fate again, I decided to make something that would not raise eyebrows of track techs.

I have made several of these hold down over the years, so this was the quickest fix I had to do to make the truck legally to run down the track. I ran down the street to the local Tractor Supply for a piece of steel flat stock, a three foot 5/16″ threaded rod, nuts, washers, and two wing nuts. The total was right around $10.00 for everything. If you are wondering why I chose 5/16 threaded rod, it is because the original hold down thread size and provides an easy spot for one of the rods to be placed. With a washers and nuts above the factory threaded hole on the battery tray, one side is down.

The other rod between the battery tray and the radiator support required a bit more work. The first thing to do is to locate a solid location. On these GMC’s there are two layers of steel that are filler panel and the leading edge of the inner fender. After some measuring, then drilling…..after I measured a second time, I installed the other threaded rod.

With the battery back in place, it is time to take some more measurements to make the hold down plate.to go over the top of the battery. This is where the steel flat stock comes in. I have also down this using aluminum flat stock which would look a little fancier with a bit of polishing.

The flat stock only needed to be cut to length and two holes to be drilled. Even if you don’t see yourself as any kind of fabricator, even a novice can make this. Just measure twice before drilling the holes.

I double checked the fitment before going any farther. In case you are wondering why, it is because I have not measured twice in the past.

Finally, a couple coats of semi gloss black engine paint to make it pretty, I installed it for the last time checking this off my to do list.

Below, is an old picture of the hold down I made years ago for my ’70 Caprice. This one was made with aluminum flat stock.