TR main battery connection frame rail

My TR's plastic connector at the frame rail has been pretty shaky, but trouble free up till now. Today the car wouldn't start, and too bad as it was a RARE sunny day here in Michigan. I checked the battery and it was near 13 volts. I cleaned the battery connections. So I'm fairly certain that the frame connector is the culprit. I was overly-anxious to drive the car, so in this state of mind I figured it's best I don't try and fix it or compromise my work. So...is there a way to fix or replace this connection other than the factory way? Any suggestions are welcomed, and Thank You for responding.

Have you checked the rotary battery diconnect switch, first?........located in the trunk (front). Just a thought!

It was bypassed by the previous owner for some unknown reason.

Hi Jeff,

the coupler in the back can be serviced/repaired in many different ways. Ferrari used the slip lock connection simply to make rear frame seperation possible without the need to cut the cable. Go to a local parts store and get a cutoff switch and install it in place of the slip joint if you want or get an original and solder it inline in place of the old one.

Regards, JRV.

Thanks JRV...is one method any "better" than the other, or just different methods with the same results?

Hi Jeff,

if you're an originality nut get the Ferrari piece..if not a better solution would be a quality cut off switch wired in place of the slip joint. The cutoff swith would provide a better contact situation than the slip clip.

Regards, JRV

Ran into this on my '89 shortly after I bought it new. The plastic cracked, allowing the two contacts to separate. Replaced it with a hardware store connector set, and a length of heavy insulation slipped over the joint.

To update everyone: I consulted the electrician at work and bought a fancy connector to join the cables, it's really slick...I'll try and post a pic of it. After all was hooked up....the starter would do a loud click, and then nothing. The battery measured 12.4 volts..hmmmm? I decided to get the battery load tested, so I took it to Auto-Zone and they said it checked fine except for a very low charge. This is wierd cuz when I hooked up my battery charger it showed near fully charged. When I got home I hooked up the charger again...still the gage showed okay. I then tapped each terminal with a hammer and whalla.....suddenly the charger showed the batter to have a very low charge. I charged up and then re-installed the battery, the car fired up. Now the question I have is did the battery get low on charge due to the bad connector? Or is my charging system suspect? Or is there a drain occuring when the car is shut down? I'll get the charging system checked out tomorrow, and go from there. Thank You to all the responses.