I have used both of those types. Both had to have their lower flanges hogged out some to fit over the larger modern batteries I use, but have worked.
I also retained the brace, and pretty sure I was able to use it with the style of hold-down that Red Mercury linked to. But now I'm curious and will have to go out and pop the hood tomorrow.

But either way Eric, the metal brace fits on top of the plastic, not underneath it. So it is the battery, hold down, bracket, washer and nut, in that order.
Of course, that only works if it fits, which you can see yours would not sit flush on top of the hold down you have. You'd either have to trim down the bracket or slice off the shoulders of the hold down. Neither of which is a clean solution.
Maybe the other type that Red Mercury linked to will be the solution. I'll go out and check to see if mine is still assembled and take a pic. (might just prove myself wrong again!)

And yes, like Bill said those old metal ones were the pits. They're reproduced, and with modern sealed batteries should live much longer than originally. So maybe you could use one yet.
My '71 Bronco came with the metal one originally, and when I bought the truck the hold-down was already just a mostly intact rubber casing over white battery corrosion instead of metal. Wondered why my battery flopped around more than it should!
That was in '76 so in just five years it had literally disintegrated inside. I replaced it with another of the same type and it lasted just another few years. I thought with my manic cleaning and such that it would last a lot longer that time, but I was wrong.
I think going with AGM batteries back in the day has saved me a lot of grief. Extra money, but extra life is a good thing. Still, replaced the hold down with the plastic type and never looked back.

Something to be said for the modern ones though. Really nice to have a solid platform with just a single small bolt holding a wedge against the lower ridge of the battery case. Very clean and no more stuff in the way on top.
Worth converting I think. Unless you're making a restoration and don't want any modern updates.

Paul

 

Thank you for all the replies and help guys. At least I now know what the solutuon is and how this thing goes together. I found a reproduction of the original C5AZ metal one by Scott Drake https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...hoCpSYQAvD_BwE but for 7 bucks I don't foresee it being super high quality. If that doesn't work I may try the later model D4MY bracket that Red Mercury says works well. Either way, it will be a better solution than the janky looking Pep Boys universal braket the previous owner had put on the truck 😁

 

Paul,
I have a pickup from a similar vintage but from ahem *another* manufacturer that uses the MUCH simpler and cleaner battery hold down setup you describe. Ford should've followed suit!

 

Nice! Is that a '74 or so? Looks like an early color combination, but not sure.
So they were using that hold-down that far back, eh? Good on them.
A friend had a '73 with 454 that he treated like part of the family. Better than the family in fact! Loved that truck.

If you're not keeping your Ford strictly original, you might get out the tape measure and start making notes on that "other" battery tray. You know... The "special order option" that most people didn't know about.
Yeah, that's the ticket...

Paul

 

Dual batteries were introduced in 1973 F100/350 as an option.

Upper (upper) pic and lower pic: