Donna,

It woulds not hurt to sprinkle a good bit of baking soda in the bottom
of the battery box. This is an anti-corrosion step. Batteries tend to
"fume" acid a bit and the soda neutralizes it. I put a thin layer of the
stuff in the bottom of my battery box for the battery to sit on.

John

On 6/7/2013 2:43 PM, Donna Skarloken wrote:
> Success!  Thank you all very much & have a great weekend!
>
> I do have a little red gunk left on my hands that didn't come off yet and I did clean it off my tools, like battery acid it seems to go everywhere but I come from a farm family so dirt doesn't bother me.
>
> Donna 87 syncro
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jun 7, 2013, at 11:37 AM, "Stuart MacMillan" <stuartmacm@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Anti-corrosion grease, you can wear vinyl gloves if you don't want to touch
>> it, but it's harmless.  Wear old clothes, battery acid seems to jump out
>> onto clothes too.
>>
>> Stuart
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Donna Skarloken [mailto:dskarloken@gmail.com]
>> Sent: Friday, June 07, 2013 10:13 AM
>> To: Stuart MacMillan
>> Cc: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>> Subject: Re: Removing and Replacing Battery
>>
>> There is red gunk all over both terminals - what is that?
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Jun 7, 2013, at 9:59 AM, "Stuart MacMillan" <stuartmacm@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Yes, get a strap, it's an essential Vanagon tool and you'll likely
>>> need it again someday.  Not all modern batteries come with a handle.
>>>
>>> Stuart
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
>>> Behalf Of Donna Skarloken
>>> Sent: Friday, June 07, 2013 9:27 AM
>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>> Subject: Re: Removing and Replacing Battery
>>>
>>> Thanks everyone; I thought that I should remove negative/ ground first
>>> but thanks for reminder. I think my dad had a battery removal strap
>>> but no idea what happened to it. Maybe I will go get strap and battery
>>> first, sounds easier.
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> On Jun 7, 2013, at 9:22 AM, Angus Gordon <birdworks@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Remember to remove the negative terminal first, and install it last.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Angus
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Jun 7, 2013 at 8:36 AM, Donna Skarloken
>>>> <dskarloken@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>> I think my battery is completely dead (87 sincere 7-passenger).  It
>>>>> seems
>>> fairly straightforward but is there anything in particular I need to
>>> know to remove the battery properly?  My local FLAPS has a replacement
>>> battery so I am going to remove it, take it for the core charge and
>> install the new one.
>>> The only other time I have done this was on my air-cooled pickup, and
>>> that was a while ago.
>>>>>
>>>>> I have the day off so I can actually take a little time to do and
>>>>> learn
>>> some of my own maintenance.
>>>>>
>>>>> Donna, 87 sincere
>>
>