[TR] 58 TR3A battery box

[David Friedlander]

Some years back, the battery box on my ‘59 TR3 looked like Swiss cheese… I
had to remove a dozen tack welds to pry the old box out. TRF supplied a new
one. The top lip of the box has to be fitted up under the cowl while the
front lip of the box has to be able to clear the leading edge of the box
opening. I don’t know what the factory was thinking when they designed
these boxes but the installation of the new box may require you to bend the
sheet metal until you can get the box into the hole and under the cowl,
then “massage” it back into shape before welding it in….

Best of luck,

Dave

On Thu, Nov 6, 2025 at 10:46 AM William Brewer <billbrewer59 at yahoo.com>
wrote:

> Hi Dave,
>
>       25 years ago I had a similar looking battery box, but not as rusty
> higher up. I bought a small bending brake from Harbor Freight and bent a
> similar gauge sheet metal panel and pop riveted it in to the bottom. I
> had to fabricate and weld a new drain tube.  I sealed it with the best
> silicone sealant I could find and painted it all with POR15, primer and
> then body color paint. It was a pretty fast and easy project and has
> worked ever since. From above, it still looks like factory and you can't
> see the patch panel or pop rivets.
>
>       That being said though, it looks like hell from underneath the
> dashboard - oozed out silicone sealant, pop rivets and POR15.
>
>       Next time I need to do any substantial body or paintwork on the
> car I'll probably weld in a complete new battery box.
>
>       Please keep us informed as to your project and maybe do a write-up
> on lessons learned.
>
>       TIA,
>
>       -Bill Brewer
>
>       Morro Bay, CA
>
>
>
> On 11/5/2025 3:36 PM, dave northrup wrote:
> > As you can see,  the battery box is toast.  How hard is it to remove
> > the old box and put in a new one?  Or is it easier to cut the back and
> > bottom out and weld in new metal
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