Hi all,

I know I'm missing the plastic battery cover, but it looks like maybe I'm missing components of a battery tie down system as well--I don't know how things looked from the factory as I've never seen an intact battery box/tray setup on an FD before. Can anyone tell me what I should have here?

That metal post on the right side is just hanging free right now, so I assume there's a crosswise metal piece that goes over the top of the battery, and that there should be a matching post on the left side of the battery that I am missing.

Thank you!

edit: Sorry, it looks like the photo uploader doesn't pay attention to EXIF data--both of these photos are sideways and should be rotated 90 degrees clockwise.

 

Looks as though you have the box, but confirming you're missing the box cover. You're also missing another vertical threaded 'J' bolt identical to the one you have. Also the bracket that goes across the top.

 

Thanks, I will check with the dealership and see if those parts are still available!

 

If no luck at the stealership, try just posting a WTB ad in the 3rd Gen. parts for sale section. A lot of guys relocate batteries or switch to smaller versions. Sure to be WAY more reasonably priced.

 

Any auto parts store should carry those parts. No need to get oem.

 

Depending on how far into the minutiae you want to dive, I think fabric battery lifting straps were also included from the factory.

 

Can't say if those were OEM or not. but a good idea. Keep forgetting to make my own for the next time I have the battery out.

 

Every battery I've installed come with plastic straps to grab onto. Mostly AutoZone or Die Hard batteries. However, because those straps don't lay completely flat it makes it difficult to properly secure the battery cover. It makes sense that Mazda used fabric straps instead. I bought my FD brand new, and I do recall seeing those straps, but shrugged it off when I saw my new battery came with straps. IOW, I don't have them anymore. I think they were permanently attached to the OEM battery.

 

Okay, so I went to the dealership yesterday--all of these parts are still available, including the fabric carrier (yep it was in the parts catalog diagram so it's an OEM thing). I ordered them all: Plastic cover, left threaded post, bracket (this thing was $50 by itself...), and fabric carrier. $150. Still cheaper than Porsche parts lol.

Interesting, they asked for my VIN because there is a VIN split for the 1993 for these parts. The guy couldn't tell me what the differences are--maybe the R1 doesn't have all the same pieces?

Thank you all very much!

 

$50 for the tie-down? $150 for that battery carrier? And that's cheaper than Porsche parts?
No wonder PCA members I've met all seem to be compensating ***-hats. Who wouldn't after paying prices worse than that.

 

Haha, sorry--it was $150 total for all the parts I bought. The fabric battery carrier thing was like, $25 I think and the plastic cover was around $45.

Yeah...Porsche... let me tell you. OEM parts are not cheap. A brake pad and rotor change ends up being like $2000 in parts. Of course, that's because it includes pads, sensors, shims, rotors, stretch-to-torque caliper bolts, and if you're really going crazy, new retainer springs, dowels and retainer clips.

I bought an aluminum-look (not real aluminum, just plastic!) gas cap from Porsche when I first got the car. It was $250.

Don't get me started on the aftermarket. An aluminum cat-back exhaust was $1600.

So yeah, my cost expectations for this RX-7 may be slightly skewed.

 

Would you happen to know the part number for the battery strap? I was looking all over a Mazda's dealer website but couldn't find it.

 

Sure, here's the part numbers from my invoice:

N3A1-18-593B: Cover, Battery, $54.66
GA5R-56-034A: Bolt, $10.99
H384-56-03XA: Clamp, Battery, $41.17
FE50-18-522: Band, Battery, $25.98

I assume that last one is what you're looking for. And apparently I had the prices for the clamp and the cover swapped earlier in this thread. Either way, pricey stuff.

 

Thank you!! :thumbs up:

 

Okay, well I now understand why so many FDs are missing the battery cover--the clearance underneath the plastic top is very tight and if you have any variance it seems that you won't be able to clip the cover down.

I have two issues now:

1. The battery, while being a Mazda Factory battery, does not seem to be original. The positive terminal clamp rests a little too high, such that the top of the clamp is hitting the plastic cover. It is sitting too high. Does anyone have a picture of the terminal/clamp on their OEM battery? I'm wondering if perhaps my clamp was replaced and the new one is not to spec. I'll take a picture later to show what I'm talking about.

2. The battery tie down post that I bought from Mazda--an OEM Mazda part that came up when we typed my VIN in--is longer than the original. It thus sits too high and impacts the battery cover. I assume they changed suppliers or what not. You can see what I'm talking about in the attached photo that shows the new post next to the original one. So, I guess I should go with Sgtblue's suggestion and post a WTB for someone's original pieces instead of going the lazy dealer route! Or, of course, I could just cut down the post and run it through a die to fix the threads... but that's probably a dumb idea when these parts are probably plentiful as he pointed out.

 

Any auto parts store should have the correct size post. The oem part isnt anything special.

 

Surprisingly, I went to Autozone and they had tie downs but they weren't quite an exact match either. It was close, but would make it hard to guarantee the battery cover would still remain closed.

Thanks for the suggestion though. I'm off to the 3rd Gen Parts forum to ask if anyone wants to send me one.