Modifing the Pajero Battery Sub Tray

The first step of course is to remove the original dead battery and the plastic sub tray that it fits into. This will expose the main tray which doesn’t require any modification.

You could mount the new battery straight onto the main tray, although this wouldn’t allow the benefits of protection from the sub tray. The Pajero’s 3.2L Turbo Charged Disiel engine can heat up the engine bay a fair bit. So; if the Sub Tray can be left in place the battery can still have most of those benefits.

Now cut from the top to the bottom on the left hand side of the sub tray (the side that was facing to the front of the engine bay). I used an Ozito to do the cutting although a saw could be used. After the down cuts are made the sides of the sub tray are going to be bent to allow the battery to sit in the modified tray and still have some side/bottom.

The sub tray is heated down where the side and bottom meet. This tray is plastic and will catch fire if too much heat is applied to close to the sub tray. The aim is to slowly heat up the sub tray to make it malleable so that the side can be bent to form part of the bottom and a shorter side. When the plastic is at the right heat point bend the side can be bent down to form part of the bottom. A tool such as a wide brickies chizel can be used to press on the side of the tray into shape. Caution; the plastic is hot and can burn you so use a pair of suitable gloves to handle the sub tray.

Next we measured the battery sub tray to find the point to bend up to form a new shorter side so that the Century Ultra Hi Performance could fit into the tray. Again the battery sub tray is heated and bent up at a 90 degree angle.

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