MOPAR Reproduction Battery

[LYMGTX]

This topic has probably been discussed before but since I'm a fairly new member, I'll bring it up again. I am on my 4th repro battery in 10 years and the one I have now is about on it's last leg. I'm going to buy one more and that's it! I've checked prices and wow, are they different at each vendor. Mancini is $229 plus shipping. Antique Auto Battery is $265 plus shipping. Don't get me started on Year One! I looked in a 2 year old catalog of theirs and they were wanting $419, plus shipping! All for the same battery made by the same manufacturer! A friend of mine who is on MOPARTS.com a lot said he bought one from a guy a couple of years ago by the name of Fred Gilmore who owns a speed shot and he paid $219 and that included shipping (normally about $35). Has anyone heard of him and have his contact info?

I also took an old battery and gutted it to use the case. It was very messy but it is now cleaned out and I may see about using it as a cover. Has anyone tried this? I've seened the battery toppers but they look too fake.

Anybody feeling the same way about paying that much for batteries or any similar experiences. How about we all ban together and boycott and hopefully they will come down in price! I guess wishfull thinking. Kind of like our government getting things straightened out in the near future.

Thanks!

 

[Propwash]

That's ridiculous.......a run of the mill typical battery will last 4-5 years and cost a quarter of that. Wow! that's crazy..

 

[LYMGTX]

I know. I keep the battery on a battery minder charger and drive it a lot most of the year. Hopefully they new ones, which are the sealed maintenance free ones will last longer. Maybe I'll just spray paint a diehard and glue on the red caps!

 

[Propwash]

LOL..No doubt.

 

[696pack]

I had saved this info below in an email. When I copied and pasted it here the pictures did not transfer. If you want them email me at darryl@sedonarental.com and i will forward it to you.

I got 6 years 8 months out of my lead acid resto battery and it was still going (although it started dying if I didn't use the car for a week..thats why I did this....)



Quote:
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how is that odyssey battery held in place, i am going to try it this weekend, i have 3 batteries to do.


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The battery is held in there by the plexiglas on the bottom & I have since stuffed styrofoam on the sides to prevent the side to side movement.

Basically, to gut the battery you need a large metal pail, baking soda, fresh water, long heavy rubber gloves, face shield, eye protection etc....

Small disclaimer....

YOU ARE DEALING WITH HIGHLY CORROSIVE BATTERY ACID
PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK
I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS

I drilled holes at the bottom of the case to drain as much of the acid as possible. I work in a bus maintenance facility that has provisions for acid battery flushing & washing so this step was easy for me.

After throughly neutralizing the battery as much as possible (the glass matting will still hold acid) I figured I would try to cut a square out of the bottom of the case & all the guts would fall out....NOT!
The case is molded with plastic separators built into it to separate each cell.
I have heard others cutting the top of the battery off but I wanted to hide this battery as best as possible & I didn't want any potentially visible seams.
Secondly, the case is VERY thick plastic on the bottom & fairly thin on the sides. You have to be careful not to crack the side of the case when you are breaking out the plastic separators molded inside.
I used a whizz wheel for this along with a good dust mask because you WILL be black when you finish cutting the bottom out cell by cell.

Starting at one side of the case, after the bottom of the cell is cut out, each glass mat is separated by a lead plate which is attached to lead lugs at the top of the battery. There are aprox 6 lead plates & mats per cell. These have to be wiggled & broken off the lugs to remove. AGAIN WEAR HEAVY NEOPRENE ACID RESISTANT GLOVES!!

After removing all the plates & mats in one cell, break out the plastic separators, cut out the bottom of the next cell & move on till they are all out.
Wash out the case & then proceed to take out all the lead plate retaining lugs except for the 2 that the posts connect to. You have to take the others out to fit the new battery in the case. I used a Dremel tool with a small cut off wheel to cut through the lead.

Lastly drill out a hole in each post lug & make up some short battery cables to connect the new battery to.

Sorry I don't have any pics of the messy gutting procedure but here is a pic of the case that shows what I mean by the molded in separators & the lugs as well as the small battery cables I made ...

Hopefully this helps

 

[shag766]

battery

I know. I keep the battery on a battery minder charger and drive it a lot most of the year. Hopefully they new ones, which are the sealed maintenance free ones will last longer. Maybe I'll just spray paint a diehard and glue on the red caps!

very practical idea and 90% of the people who see it won't know the difference.:idea1:

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

it kills me to keep buying these shitty batteries. my yellow top keeps going dead on me on my 69.5 superbee. my red top battery on my cuda died a few years ago and wont buy another one. they suck.

 

[Histoy]

Are you by chance running the blue voltage regulator that's designed for racing? If you are, and you drive the car a lot, it can ruin the battery due to over-charging.

 

[696pack]

it kills me to keep buying these shitty batteries. my yellow top keeps going dead on me on my 69.5 superbee. my red top battery on my cuda died a few years ago and wont buy another one. they suck.

They also make a battery "topper" that fits over a newer "regular" battery that gives the appearance of the older battery.

 

[LYMGTX]

No, I'm running the standard voltage regulator. I'll probably buy one more sealed battery and keep the old one and eventually follow 696pack's instructions on gutting it and using the case. By the way, thanks 696pack, great advice.

 

[696pack]

No, I'm running the standard voltage regulator. I'll probably buy one more sealed battery and keep the old one and eventually follow 696pack's instructions on gutting it and using the case. By the way, thanks 696pack, great advice.

Your welcome.

You may have missed my above post that is another option.

"They also make a battery "topper" that fits over a newer "regular" battery that gives the appearance of the older battery."

 

[b5rt]

I know a guy that uses a regular group 27 battery in each of his B bodies. 4 nicely restored cars. When he gets to the show, he swaps in his empty reproduction battery for the judges. After he gets his trophy, he puts the real battery back in and drives it on the trailer. He bought ONE reproduction battery 6 years ago and uses it in all his cars and it will never go dead prematurely because the acid was never installed.

 

[MRHWS]

This topic has probably been discussed before but since I'm a fairly new member, I'll bring it up again. I am on my 4th repro battery in 10 years and the one I have now is about on it's last leg. I'm going to buy one more and that's it! I've checked prices and wow, are they different at each vendor. Mancini is $229 plus shipping. Antique Auto Battery is $265 plus shipping. Don't get me started on Year One! I looked in a 2 year old catalog of theirs and they were wanting $419, plus shipping! All for the same battery made by the same manufacturer! A friend of mine who is on MOPARTS.com a lot said he bought one from a guy a couple of years ago by the name of Fred Gilmore who owns a speed shot and he paid $219 and that included shipping (normally about $35). Has anyone heard of him and have his contact info?

I found these in that price range. Says they come with a 4 year warranty.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/AGM-Sealed-Classic-Mopar-Batteries,43754.html

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

my repro battery has a hard time cranking over my 69 hemi roadrunner.its brand new.

 

[LYMGTX]

First off, SUPERSTOCKERACE, WOW!!!, I love your 69. Even though I'm a little partial to 70's because my first Mopar was a 70 GTX, I love the 68/69's RR's because my broher-in-law had one of the very first 68' and then traded it in for a new 69... Now as far as the batteries, I broke down and bought a new battery from Fred Gilmore in KS. Great MOPAR guy. Talked to him and mailed him a check on Monday and by Friday it was deliverd by FexEx. Send him an email at fgilmore@speednet.com. If you're interested in a new battery you won't be disappointed. Lowest prices delivered than any other vendor. You won't be disappointed! Gary

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

First off, SUPERSTOCKERACE, WOW!!!, I love your 69. Even though I'm a little partial to 70's because my first Mopar was a 70 GTX, I love the 68/69's RR's because my broher-in-law had one of the very first 68' and then traded it in for a new 69... Now as far as the batteries, I broke down and bought a new battery from Fred Gilmore in KS. Great MOPAR guy. Talked to him and mailed him a check on Monday and by Friday it was deliverd by FexEx. Send him an email at fgilmore@speednet.com. If you're interested in a new battery you won't be disappointed. Lowest prices delivered than any other vendor. You won't be disappointed! Gary

I was looking for a very long time for a 70 triple black 4 speed hemi Roadrunner, and then the hunt for a 70 roadrunner 440-6 convertible 4 speed but came up empty. 70's are a favorite of mine.
took me over 25 years to find my 69 hemi roadrunner. thanks fior the kind words.