Date:         Wed, 16 Oct 1996 20:25:22 -0600 (MDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         D&J <hetchins@montana.com>
Subject:      Re: Battery Removal 

On Wed, 16 Oct 1996, K & K wrote:

:As I was struggling,cursing and peeling off the skin from my knuckles while
:removing the battery from my Westy,it dawned on me to rig up some type of
:"git-up" to avoid the same trauma next time. So what I did was take a
:bicycle inner and cut out a 20" piece. I laid it in to the battery box
:before installing the battery and looped the ends out of the box. Dropped
:the battery in and presto , an easy way of removing the battery and keeping
:my knuckles intact. It works so well that I removed the battery twice just
:for fun.Okay maybe it doesn't read as well as I thought but hey, it works!
:
:
:Kris 
:86 Westy Syncro
:82 Westy for sale

That's nothin'! As I was mounting various eyelets in my '86 Vanagon, to
bungee-down the camp stove, water bottle, chill box, etc. I managed to
drill a hole right through the steel wall at the rear of my battery
compartment and also through the battery itself. Needless to say, I had a
very surprised look on my face as electrolyte (sulphuric acid) started
leaking through the hole and burning a groove in my upholstery. 

This all happened at a friend's house, so now he knows that I am a
complete idiot.

I managed to remove my holed battery in record time without the aid of a
bicycle tube or any other device. I then tilted it so that no more acid
was leaking out of the hole. The repair consisted of Bondo and a goodly
amount of electrical tape wrapped around the entire battery to hold the
Bondo in place. 60,000 miles later it was still leak-free. The five gallon
water container is mounted so that the burned upholstery is not easy to
see. My friend still gives me that "I know you're a moron" look every once
in awhile.

Dick Taylor
hetchins@montana.com