> 
> I repaired the rusted out battery tray on my '72 bus once with a piece of
> wood I found on the side of the road. The battery was about to fall out on
> the ground and it was at a 45 degree angle when I first noticed it was in
> distress. The wood never deteriorated and I drove the bus around like that
> fine for another 5 years.
>

My '71 Westfalia has the same feature!  Only the piece of wood was
obviously very old, and starting to fall through the hole too, so I got
a nice piece of exterior grade 1/2" plywood, made the appropriate cutouts,
set it on top of the old piece, and now have a stable base for my brand
new battery!

Dave