66L72

I bought one of those really nice original looking Delco D12 replacement type batteries when I restored my 66. Now 3 years later it is pooched.....yes, I used a battery tender when it was in storage!!.... that works out to $100 per year so I am going to sacrifice whatever points are involved and buy a more reasonably priced battery without the nostalgia tax........

I want it to fit the hold down somewhat properly, but R/R is a PITA so if it can be smaller in Length I guess but height and width need to work as original.........

Anybody had good success with one model or the other..?..... we have a local NAPA that I like to support............?

Avispa

http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Det...+50012+2012030

This one should fit just fine.

66jack

I bought a Red Optima and put in my 66 non A/C car...it fit stock height/length/width.
And used the factory hold down stuff

jack

gilbybarr

Buy a conventional standard black battery and purchase one of those fake tar topper battery tops.....I did and it looks great.....very hard to tell its a fake. And I can reuse it over and over on new quallty and lower than repro cost batteries.

66L72

thanks for the replies guys

that is one beautiful white coupe gilbybar

Ironcross

I never look for a cheap battery. Interstate MT 34 is what I use and I never have any trouble. Just dont buy price, you should get the most cranking amps available that fits the battery box.

pltmgr

I just bought a battery from Walmart that had mounting "wings" on the sides that prevented installation of the stock hold down clamp. Removed wings with a hand grinder as suggested elsewhere on this forum and then the hold down fit ok. Used the "bag" trick that worked well. I probably would go with an Optima if I had to do it again. No worry of acid spilling/overflow and not having to periodically check water level.

JohnZ

Both of my cars have AC-Delco Professional Series model #24-7YR batteries (one is nine years old, the other is ten years old); both are still going strong.

The "reproduction" batteries have a poor reputation for reliability and longevity, and I've heard as many horror stories as good stories on the Optima batteries. The Delco (or just about any other conventional battery) should work just fine, for a lot less money.

92GTA

UNLESS a person lives where it's hot. Heat kills high CCA batteries.

If you don't need the higher CCA, don't bother.

Trophy Blue

I have a aftermarket brand battery. It is almost six years old and it is still working strong.

66 big block

gilbybarr I was thinking of a topper to put over my delco flat top do you hav a photo ? thanks John

Steve439

Exactly

I bought an Optima and it was great.
Bought another and it was bad, and the replacement was bad.
The second replacement was OK so I'm batting .500.

Sxrxrnr

Be absolutely certain that you read and understand the warranty policy on any battery that you buy. Particularly who is eligible to offer you warranty service if you should require it. Be very careful here.

hedgehead

I swapped out my last two Duramax at 7 years, just to be safe, I dont know how long they would have lasted, the current one in for 2 and going strong.

Sxrxrnr

November 2010 Consumer Reports Magazine has their semi-regular testing and evaluation studies of auto batteries. Outcomes have very little relationship to costs. Some 75 dollar batteries scored better than some 200 dollar units. Whether you believe in their reports, its a place to start. Still on newstands.

raypilot65

Hard to beat Interstate's warrantee. I've gotten a couple of free batteries and one prorated battery here in the heat of Florida.

toddalin

The stock hold down is too big to fit the Yellow Optima. Initially I made shims and later found a billet aluminum hold down from the Tri-5 group specific for the Optima to work with the old trays. I saw many other tops, but this one is clean and simple and looks like it belongs as opposed to some custom hold down with ball milling, spider webbing, or whatever.

1snake

The old Delco's were good. The new ones are junk. My new GMC is on its 3rd one in 2 years and it's going to the dealership next week for the 4th one.
Optima's are no better. The local Napa quit carrying them because of a more than 50% return rate in the 1st year.
I went to the local battery builder and he gave me a 1 hour class on batteries. High cranking amp. batteries are fine but if they ever go dead, all those thin plates (that make the high amps.) warp, short out and the battery is shot. Lower amp. batteries have thicker plates that don't warp when discharged. He insisted that I buy his cheapest battery. A 500 cranking amp. one for $39.99. It is 9 years old and still works fine. When it dies, I'll put in the same one.

Jim

1snake

Here's an update on the famed Delco battery. I just got a call from the dealership. They checked for a parasitic draw and found none. Tested my 6 month old Delco battery and guess what, it failed. It appears it has a dead cell. SOOOOOOO, I'm on Delco battery #4 in a little over 2 years. The service manager told me that it is the most common warranty replaced item. You would think they would at least get one that would last 3 years so it would be out of the warranty period.

Baseball2005

My ACDelco pro series battery failed at 9 years. Not bad. I live in Phoenix so a battery that can handle the heat is a must. The AGM technology sounds like a winner in hot states. I searched long and hard and couldn’t find AGM BATTERY for my 66 327 AC car. Bought an optima red top 34 so we will see. Everyone’s right, installation is a maJOR PITA. Good advice in the threads. You definitely don’t have to take your wheel off to change the battery. On an AC car turn the wheel all the way to the right as far as it will go and jack the wheel up until it’s off the ground and it comes out fairly cleanly on one end. I put a pad over the break lines because it is very tight clearance. My biggest PITA was the wheel well itself. When the new wheel wells were put in when the car was restored the jack a__ only cut the whole in the well big enough for the corner off the battery to fit through it. I used. 3-1/2 in rotary cutter being very careful not to cut into the old battery. Not much clearance between the wheel well and the battery. Went to start it up and realized I have a celanoid issue I believe.