EMU (the atomic bomb site) and Hilux problems with an Aldi solution

After leaving Coober Pedy the convoy headed off onto the eastern beginning of the Anne Beadell Highway which is the biggest misnomer ever. 

From the beginning to Emu was nearly 400 km of pounding road corrugations. The travel speed should have been 25 k, but we travelling a fair bit faster than that. 

After a lunch stop on the first day I noticed the main battery mount in the engine bay had broken, and the battery had moved. 

There was some combined group head scratching, and a temporary repair was made.

Sadly it didn't last, and that night a more concerted attempt was made. 

Next day after arriving at Emu, after more corrugated roads, the battery gave way, and I temporarily lost power. 

That night we tackled the problem seriously. One camper from a vehicle not in our group got under the Hilux and attached half a ratchet strap. That was the belt. The braces were reinforcing the two spot welds which were slowly pulling away from the engine bay chassis. This was actually most likely the cause of the problem. 

Finally, we cut up some scrap steel with Barry's cordless grinder and used it to reinforce the holding strap as it had bent with the battery bouncing around. 

The piece de resistance was the notched Aldi bread board which we cut up to form a top to help prevent the battery moving. 

I decided to head back to civilisation as I really didn't have total confidence in the repair.  This meant back tracking to Coober Pedy and heading north on the bitchumin to Alice Springs to see if I can find a new battery mount. At the moment I am at Marla, half way to Alice. My options are to meet up with the others at Giles weather station, or spend some time at Uluru if the repair fails. There are no problems on the bitchumin of course. 

Incidentally we took a Geiger counter to the bomb site, and the readings were really high. 

There is evidence of twisted metal from the bomb blast.