C2 Air Conditioning or 396 Battery Tray J-Bolts

[Mike B.]

Hello Guys,

I've scoured the TDB Archives and found many articles on non-AC battery trays, hold downs and bolts but not much on AC and 396 cars. I apologize if I've missed that thread or maybe even an old Restorer article?

I was hoping that someone out there would be so kind as to post a few shots of their original AC/396 J-Bolts with dimensions. Maybe someone is working that area of their car right now during this quarantine?

I'm very interested in finding the specifications of their original J-bolts, but any and all info related to the AC/396 tray, tray bolts, J-bolts, hold downs, washers and wing nuts would make up a great discussion. I've got a lot to share too, but not much on the proper AC/396 J-bolts and wing nuts.

I've heard the AC version J-bolt is different. Is this true? The AC/396 cars use 2 J-bolts without the long stud bolt.

Thanks everyone, Mike

[David B.]

Re: C2 Air Conditioning or 396 Battery Tray J-Bolts

Part numbers would help!

[Larry M.]

Re: C2 Air Conditioning or 396 Battery Tray J-Bolts

At one time LICS had the correct J-bolts and hold down.

Larry

[Mike B.]

Re: C2 Air Conditioning or 396 Battery Tray J-Bolts

Hi David, I figured anyone responding to this would have access to their AIM pages. Sorry, my error. I know the '65 thru '67 AIM C60 sheet E2 are identical to each other. Not sure of '63 and '64. The J-bolt is my primary question. It's AIM listed part number is #3710340.

Thanks Larry, as I've lost faith in reproduction parts and avoid them at all cost I haven't gone in that direction (yet). Are LI Corvette repros spot-on? But I'd always prefer a real part on my car if I can find one. That's why I was hoping someone had access to a real bolt and post a shot here. Then I could hunt two of them down.

Thanks Guys.

[Mike B.]

Re: C2 Air Conditioning or 396 Battery Tray J-Bolts

OK Guys,

Since my first post to this here thread, I've deleted that photo I'd attached. Wasn't 100% percent sure of it's origin. Especially after reading (again) David Liukkonen's post to a non-AC J-bolt thread from way back when. Here's the timeline:

-Thread titled '66 Battery Hold Down "J" Bolt created by Rob Axel on May 23rd, 2008. Great thread but not much response.

NCRS 1.jpg

-Thread resurrected 5 years later by David Liukkonen on February 20th, 2013. All excellent info David on non-AC battery tray "J" Bolts!

NCRS 2.jpg

-Then resurrected 2 years later by Bill Caldwell asking the same question I am now about info pertaining to AC/396 battery tray "J" Bolts dated January 12th, 2015.

NCRS 3.jpg

-Then David's response to Bill's questions about AC/396 "J" Bolts dated that same day. Excellent information! But no definitive dimensions back then of an actual AC/396 battery tray "J" Bolt and no photos of what a real one looks like.

NCRS 4.jpg

David and Bill, Now it's been another 5 years since the last resurrection. So I figure I should do so now Do either of you know the exact dimensions of a real #3710340 AC/396 "J" Bolt? Anybody out there? Photos would be very much appreciated of what a real one looks like.

David, I for one really appreciate what you've contributed to the NCRS TDB. You too Bill. Mike

[Joe L.]

Re: C2 Air Conditioning or 396 Battery Tray J-Bolts

Hi David, I figured anyone responding to this would have access to their AIM pages. Sorry, my error. I know the '65 thru '67 AIM C60 sheet E2 are identical to each other. Not sure of '63 and '64. The J-bolt is my primary question. It's AIM listed part number is #3710340.

Thanks Larry, as I've lost faith in reproduction parts and avoid them at all cost I haven't gone in that direction (yet). Are LI Corvette repros spot-on? But I'd always prefer a real part on my car if I can find one. That's why I was hoping someone had access to a real bolt and post a shot here. Then I could hunt two of them down.

Thanks Guys.

Mike------


You could look for an NOS GM #3710340 for your entire life but you'll never find one. That's because it was a PRODUCTION only item and never available in SERVICE. In SERVICE the only bolt cataloged for the application from the beginning was GM #6255817. This is a "J-hook" bolt but it's all-thread (i.e. one size fits all). The GM #3688699 mentioned by Dave was a predecessor bolt but never cataloged for a 1965+ Corvette. It was 8-7/16 OL but I don't know what the thread length was.

As a matter of fact, the battery retainers used for 1965 Corvette with C-60 or L-78, GM #3735250 or 3752356 were never available in SERVICE, either.

[Joe R.]

Re: C2 Air Conditioning or 396 Battery Tray J-Bolts

If you ordered Battery hold down hardware several years ago, this is what GM would send you. You had to make do with the universal replacement parts and not the original.

JRIMG_0136[1].jpg

[Mike B.]

Re: C2 Air Conditioning or 396 Battery Tray J-Bolts

Joe L. Thanks for the great info as always. Yeah, I figured I'd never find these "J" bolts NOS. But hopefully someone will post photos of their known originals sooner than later then I'll hunt for an original set. I've got good sources but first I want to be sure what real ones look like. That's the hardest part of the battle. The hunt for originals is the fun part. At least for me. Mike

Joe R. Looks like you got a nice collection going on there! Once I find out the size and appearance of original #3710340 "J" bolts I'll either find real ones from a donor car or find exact repros. I was just on LI Corvette's site and they now sell an exact AC/396 hold down. It resembles the one in the AIM drawing that I have for '65 thru '67. I'm wondering how close their repro "J" bolts are? Mike