Battery Bracket for 1974 XJ6

[supersonic62]

Hi folks, has anyone come across a suitable battery bracket for a series 2 XJ6 ? I know most had the actual battery box and this still does,but the fan hasn`t ever worked that I have noticed. The battery doesn`t need replacing yet but you never know as I had a battery fail on two modern cars within 5 days recently without any warning from either. New batteries remedied that issue( one was only 3 months old). Any way I`ll stop rambling on, and if anybody has come across a suitable bracket setup for this model I would be grateful.Just thought I would say the old girl was 50 years old on 21st may 1974 and my old chap bought it new so it`s been with us along time and I still remember the first time I saw it, and the paint still shines and the chrome still sparkles,Regards Paul

[mike020150]

Belated 50th birthday wishes to your XJ6! If you have the original battery box, why change it? It works OK as a safe fixing method for the battery. I agree that some modern batteries have slightly altered tops making it difficult to fit the box but the solution is simple. Just modify the top of the box to suit. It can be done using a file or similar tools and, after the addition of a little black paint, it will still look original. Mike.

[supersonic62]

Cheers Mike, I didn`t want to faff about with altering the box really , that`s why I wondered if anyone had used an aftermarket bracket to secure the battery in situ. May have to adapt batt box in the future in order it keep it original. An issue which I was surprised with this morning when I took car for run approx 5am before the folk heading out on A47 heading for the coast was that on change over to left fuel tank just to check what we had in it, after a few seconds we started sputtering so switched back and several minutes tried again and same thing . So it appears after fitting 2 new fuel pumps ( we are lucky they are still produced and we can fit original pumps) in the last approx 3 years that we may have to go back to the slight tap with a rubber hammer to wake it up. I am surprised that it may have become gummed up in such a short time. Like so many say in the classic mags it is lack of use that causes more problems than regular use, regards Paul

[mike020150]

If a tap on the suspect pump doesn't work, check out the change-over valves. They too fail, with increasing regularity, due to the use of modern fuels. Mike.

[Dave Eynon]

You may find a replacement battery that will fit the original battery box by visiting Tayna's website who supply a massive range of batteries and all the casing sizes are listed with dimensions in mm. I purchase my car batteries this way and I am still using my original battery clamp on my XJ S1.

[supersonic62]

Hi Mike, it may seem a silly question but where would the change-over valves be for the fuel pumps ? I may have been looking at them but when I replaced the pumps for new ,I don`t recall seeing anything like this near the pumps only the fuel filter which I had replaced by garage in far right corner of the boot, Paul
And thanks to Dave regarding Tanya`s batteries, I have seen them advertised on line a number of times but didn`t realise you could get close to the actual original size. I remember a number of years ago I replaced the battery with a Lucas Pacemaker and that was a perfect fit and the most recent replacement ( approx 3 years ago) is really too tall for said position. So yes will look into that cheers Paul

[supersonic62]

Hi Mike, just to say left fuel pump needed just a slight tap a couple of times and started clicking , so burst into life . So have ran that for a while as it has last years fuel in it, and always have a rubber hammer as part of the tool kit on board knowing we have been there a number of times before. So hopefully we are all ship shape for the local run we have on sun 18th August ( approx 90 mile round trip) and stop at Peterborough for a static display, then return home again for approx 2 hour static display in local car park which is the highlight of the Wisbech & District Historic Vehicle Club, Paul

[mike020150]

Hope the rubber hammer worked OK and you have put some fresh E5 fuel now. The change-over valve arrangement varied slightly by model year and 6 or 12 cylinder cars, with/without fuel injection etc. 6 cylinder carburettor cars relied on the use of non-return valves. Early cars had non-return valves incorporated within the fuel pumps. Later cars with submerged pumps had separate inline non-return valves fitted. Mike.

[supersonic62]

Hi Mike I have noted your knowledge on the use of non-return valves on the 6 cylinder engines which were in use at the time for future reference and thanks for that. Luckily I only had to tap that pump the once and it behaved even when switched to other pump for several miles and then switched back to the left one which I thought was going to be an ongoing tricky issue as the old pumps had been , but no all is well. Change in the weather has seen it tucked away for the winter, it doesn`t seem too long ago when spring arrived and was looking forward to give it an airing. Time going so quick , must be getting old. Regards Paul