Aww man! Darnit, shoulda said something sooner. Oh well, my idea's gonna get the job done.

just got my newly made battery holders/nerf bars installed, to replace the lexan ones I had before. Made them from aluminum .060 plate and aluminum tubing. I used the Aluminum "brazing" rod that you can find on ebay, just use a torch to get the ALuminum pieces to 726 degrees.....the jury is still out on how well it holds together. Sometimes it seemed as though it were nothing more than a cheap glue - but then it is only relying on surface adhesion to "weld" the pieces together.
Anyway, thought I'd share the results....

Just a couple more pics. I had a few close ups, but I screwed them up while re-sizing.
Now just waiting for my Spektrum system to show so I can get rid of that damn traxxas Rx......