I've just taken the battery out of my escort and on the whole it looks very solid with no rust under the tray itself. But the actual tray is just starting to corrode. How do the come out ? Are they welded in ?

 

yes they are i believe

 

yeah there spot welded to the flat skin (bulkhead) underneath the tray.
You would need to drill these off, or just cut the whole thing out.

 

cool, so not that bad of a job

 

you may be able to see the spot welds to drill em out depending on how badly corroded it is but cutting the lot out is the way to go. its not that bad a job.
once its done its done! proper job!

 

Its just starting to corrode in the back corner, it looks like the panel underneath is solid.

 

make sure you TOTALLY fill any holes left as ,this was my motors achillees heel!
the passenger side was lets say "air-cooled",seal it ,rust proof it,prime ,u/c,and finnish paint it,then paint it twice more!

check the water run! off the screen-down the wing gulley, to the rubber bonnet softener,-down the strut housing-onto the battery tray,-under the tray,over the bulkhead!,damm nasty!

heres a simple mod! remove the bonnet rubber on the inner wings! cut out a small section (like a "V" shape),so some water can pass along the inner wing sill,(the rubber fits tight into the wing gully-you will now have a triangle gap for water to pass through) this water will now pass behind your headlights now so make sure they are well waxed,

hope this helps!

 

if its just slight corrosion and the panel itself is fine , dont touch it. just cover the corroded part in waxoil or something to protect it from further rust.

cutting the old one out is a pain in the ass as sparks go everywhere (which leave rust spots themselves). i do agree that once its done properly its done for the life of the car however if the bulkhead panel is fine just leave it.