[Mgs] Securing series 26 battery in the MGB

[Dan DiBiase]

Wow, what a story..... I guess I have my project for the weekend lined up. I
currently have only gravity holding down
my battery.....

Dan D
'76B, '65B
Central NJ USA


________________________________
 From: PaulHunt73
<paulhunt73 at virginmedia.com>
To: Bob Donahue <bobmgtd at comcast.net>; mgs
<mgs at autox.team.net> 
Sent: Thursday, May 1, 2014 6:28 AM
Subject: Re: [Mgs]
Securing series 26 battery in the MGB
 

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.
_______________________________________________

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