Installing battery tray

[jlg309]

Looking for advice on installing a marine battery tray in the bilge of a fiberglass boat. Since it’s drilling into fiberglass, I want to make sure I do it right the first time. I have a fear of 1) not securing it properly and having it come loose and 2) drilling through the boat, a hose, etc. Any suggestions on type of screws to use, procedure, lessons learned would be most appreciated.

[Lojack]

What boat and are you sure the flooring is fiberglass? I just put new battery trays in and they sit on a metal hinged pad on my boat that opens to access the pumps and hoses. You should look to see how much clearance you have, but I imagine 12" or more. I pre-drilled holes and reused the screws from the old trays. I think they were 1/4 or 1/2 inch sheet metal screws.
For lessons learned, many years ago with my first boat (used), I was mounting rod holders in the rod lockers and drilled right thru on my last section. Marine Tex fixed it up and I learned a valuable lesson. You should be fine in the battery area of the boat, but my lesson learned is to always check and verify.