This might be a no-brainer but you also want to turn the seat (at
least the passenger one) 180 degrees if you have a swivel mechanism.
My 84 Westy has the metal all bent obviously because someone tried to
get it out without turning the seat.

Matthias

On Apr 26, 2007, at 3:54 PM, Tom Young wrote:

> Patti:
>
> If you have a home battery charger then just charge it in place.
> If you
> have to remove the battery to take it somewhere to be charged, and
> it's a
> Group 41 battery, then it can be something of a struggle to get it
> out and
> back in.  The problem is that the battery*just* fits in the spot
> behind the
> passenger's seat so there's no way to easily grab hold of it with your
> hands.  The Group 41 batteries I've seen have a pair of "ears" with
> slots in
> them on each side of the battery which are designed, I guess, to
> allow a
> carrier to be attached to the battery.  However, the carrier takes
> up enough
> room on top of the battery that you can't cover up the battery
> compartment
> properly with the carrier in place.  If there's a Group 42 battery
> in there
> then you can easily get your fingers around it to lift it out.
>
> When I replaced the Group 42 battery that came with my used Westy
> with a
> Group 41 battery I tied some thin nylon rope through the holes in
> the two
> ears; using the rope as a flexible handle (you can leave it in
> place and
> still close up the battery compartment properly) allows you to pull
> it out
> and drop it back into the battery compartment.
>
> Tom Young
>
> When I installed my battery in my W
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "PB" <pbrattan@GMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 3:27 PM
> Subject: Charging the battery
>
>
>> I've had my 1990 Westy for 2 weeks and I already have a dead battery.
>> This
>> doesn't alarm me very much because I had the stereo on with the van
>> parked,
>> thinking the stereo was on the auxiliary battery.
>>
>> I read that it's an "ordeal" to remove the battery.  (I just can't
>> wait to
>> start!)  Is there any kind of a "pigtail or other type of easy
>> connect
>> gadget just in case the battery goes dead?