Touching up the battery holder

2 weeks ago I went to my usual Ford specialist workshop to have my 4 years old car battery replaced. The battery is not dead yet, but I noticed that it has been getting weaker and taking slightly longer the start the engine.

I am actually lucky that

1. The battery lasted 4 years instead of the typical 1-2 years and
2. There were warning signs that the battery is dying, because these maintenance-free batteries are known to die suddenly with no warning.

So instead of waiting for it to die, I pre-emptively replaced it so I don't get stranded with a dead battery in the middle of nowhere.

Anyway, since the shop only carries Amaron Hi Life Pro and Century Marathoner batteries, I opted for Amaron since I've heard good things about it. Problem was, the Amaron battery for my Fiesta is actually slightly taller than the stock FOMOCO battery that I have been using, the shop staff had to hammer the metallic battery holder bar so that it can clear the battery height and still be able to be fastened back to the battery tray box.

original FOMOCO battery on the left - you can see the original shape of the bar which is straight, compared to the right - after the bar has been hammered into a arch to accomodate the new battery.

To be honest I wasn't very happy that they had to resort to this, but I guess it can't be helped.

I noticed that the paint on the bar was chipped due to the hammering, which exposes the metal to the elements and the risk of rust. You can see below some surface rust has already developed at the exposed areas.

So today I broke out an old touch up pen which I bought months ago for 1 Ringgit at a hardware shop. It's bright silver so it's clearly not the right colour, but this is not a showcar so I really couldn't be bothered if the color does not match.

I sanded down the rusted areas and carefully applied the touch up paint on the exposed metal. All it took from start to finish was 10 minutes.

Also, due to the bigger battery size, I had to re-locate my voltage stabilizer to the top of the fusebox (previously it was stuffed inside a gap between the old battery and the tray box). See image below, the rear arrow indicates the voltage stabilizer.

Before you say, c'mon what's the big deal with a bit of rust? - I am very, very wary about any potential rust spots on my car. As any car guy would know, rusts are like cancer on the car body, if you are not mindful about it, it will spread and weaken the body panels and the chassis, which could lead to expensive repair work or worse, a chassis that is not roadworthy.

In this case it is just the battery holder bar, where the rust would hardly spread anywhere since it is isolated from the rest of the car's body, but it is a good habit to ensure your car is completely rust-free, no matter how small or how unlikely it will cause any further issues.