[FC] Battery tray collapse aftermath

[Wild8bill at aol.com]

For future reference of anyone that this might happen to: 
 
After the battery tray gave way and the POS post came in contact with the  
chassis (for over an hour), here were the resulting problems:
 
1. the battery tray needed repair.
2. the accelerator and clutch cable both got fried, literally
3. no damage to the battery, no leaks and it holds a charge
4. no other apparent damage
 
I had to fabricate an accelerator cable; only the rear 4' had damage to the  
inner plastic sheath, so I used a 1/4" drip irrigation hose as a liner and the 
 metal sheathing from shielded electrical wire to graft on and replace the 
burned  section, that way I could still use the front attachments; it actually 
turned  out very nice. Luckily I had a spare clutch cable; I didn't see the 
actual  burned part, but I can assume it was the same as the accelerator cable. 
The  whole vehicle must have become electrified, with the NEG cable leading to 
the  engine block, and the block being largely insulated by the mounting 
blocks from  the chassis, the POS current went through the chassis and anything 
caught  in-between acted as a filament. The less massive pieces, the cables, 
became hot  enough to melt and ignite the plastic or rubber.
 
I wasn't driving it at the time, otherwise I would have disconnected the  
battery cables. My girlfriend said there was smoke coming out from underneath it  
(the cables), but she didn't see any flames to use the extinguisher  on.
 
Bill
61 rampside
63 greenbrier
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