Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
Hello everyone. I have a 69' that the previous owner installed a nice reproduction DELCO R79S into, even had it correctly date coded for juding. Well, over the winter the battery has stopped working. I purchased a new DELCO battery this weekend but really hate to give up the "correct" battery, especially for only $13 to the auto shop. I'm wondering if the old one can be recharged or even the case used over the new one? The car was judged a few years ago Top Flight and I want to try and keep it that way. I just couldn't see paying over $350 for another "correct" battery when I could get almost four new DELCO batteries locally. Thank you! Don
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Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
Don I have a repo battery for my 70 and when you take the caps off you can see there is a smaller modern battery inside. Mine is still working but when it dies I'm gonna cut all or part of the bottom off and I should be able to just replace the smaller battery. If yours is made the same way I would think you could do the same thing. If you try it, let us know how it goes. -
Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
A recent Restorer had two articles on this very idea.Comment
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Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
Were the articles in the NCRS mag or on this board?Comment
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Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
Hi Don,
The articles were in the Summer Issue. Vol. 38, Number 1.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan71 Coupe, 350/270, 4 speed
Mason Dixon Chapter
Chapter Top Flight October 2011Comment
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Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
Yesterday our Pittsburgh Tri-state Chapter had many seminars and a judging school.
One of the seminars was put on by Ron Libengood of Fort Pitt Classics in Sharpsburg, PA (suburb of Pittsburgh) Earlier in the week I gave Ron the tar top battery from my 63 FI car. It was one of the 1st repros that my pal Tom Kobman handled. Tom has Restoration Battery.
Anyhow at our seminar Ron (a member of our chapter) and his men showed us how they rebuild a battery. They can rebuild you battery as long as the case is good. Cost is $192.00.
What they do is put a smaller battery inside your case. Then they attach the original terminals to the news terminals via custom made battery cables. Then they surround the battery with thick pieces of polystere/styrofoam (SP). They fabricate a new bottom and hold it on with screws. They do a nice job. Now I didn't get my own battery back yet.
Hard part was removing my 63 tar top from the car. Whew!!!! I found out from John Hinckley that the St. Louis put the battery's in the chassis 1st and then put the body on. JDComment
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Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
Other than the articles, there was recently a lot of discussion on this board on this. Try a couple of searches for "restoration battery", etc. I recall that there were also some pictures. This topic comes up from time to time.
PaulComment
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Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
John, Didn't you use the plastic bag over the battery trick. :-)Comment
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Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
I'm in the middle of such a project and have a question for John. The Restorer articles were interesting but one only mentioned the brand of battery that he used, not the model that he placed inside the old shell and the other article mentioned an Odyysey brand battery by model number that does not seem to exist on the Odyysey website. Did anyone at your seminar mention one or more specific batteries that will fit inside a hollowed-out Restoration battery?
I was fortunate to have an NCRS member give me a Restoration battery he did not use on his '63. It is a sealed battery and when I received it it showed 12 volts but went dead as soon as a load was placed on it. Naturally I would like to use the most powerful battery that will fit inside the case, and if no information is available from those who have already done this I'll have to start researching dimensions vs. CCA.Comment
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Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
Hi Doug, Sorry I did not get the name of the battery. I will tell you the project is not as easy as it appears in writing. Very messy job too.
Email me about another detail on your car. Thanks, JDComment
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Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
Don,
Bob Baird used the Optima and I used a Mazda battery. There was plenty of room inside, I did not put the bottom back on the battery. No deductions.
BobComment
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Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
It seems to me that batteries in general are a topic of discussion every week or two on this forum. What I cannot understand is why batteries and not radiators, belts, hoses, seat covers, carpets, door panels, tires, etc. All these things are reproductions and never receive any deductions for judging.
What am I missing here???? Batteries are probably one of the most changed items on any vehicle! Does that mean that they have to be perfect in every detail???
None of the above mentioned reproductions even come close to the original products delivered to GM and installed on the Corvette, but batteries have to be perfect??????
JRComment
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Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
For those of you that don't want to search for an old issue of The Restorer, here's a link to the articles
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Re: Saving Correct Reproduction Battery Case
JR,
Sweeping generalities are probably not warranted here. NEVER .... is way too strong. When I was NTL I saw deductions for reproduction door panels, belts, radiators, spark plug wires, window glass. Oh and paint too (you forgot that one). I would wager there are still deductions being made -- at least in some classes -- for the inaccurate reproductions in all these areas and more. Are deductions being made in ALL cases of inaccurate reproductions? Certainly not. In some cases the judges overlook MINOR differences and I am sure there are other cases where the judges simply miss the obvious. More training is always needed, and welcomed by the best judges.
I think the breath of questions from owners and restorers on this board would indicate the judges are doing a pretty good job of "sweating the details" in most cases. But for sure not all cases. The more details that are exposed here, the more likely the judges are to find those details on the field; and the more likely owners are to try to find fixes for those details. I think that is what is going on here. Is it a perfect system? Nope. Is it better than most? I think so, but not everyone will agree with me.
FWIW: I am fed up with seeing threads: "Judge this stamp pad" My solution is to avoid feeding the beast by not participating in those threads. They eventually die, and the only opinion that really counts is on the judging field and even then it only counts for one moment in time (pun intended).TerryComment
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