I wonder if it can be repaired/rebuilt? That might help salvage money spent.

I really liked the idea of gutting the (Now dead anyway...) repo battery and hiding a smaller, lighter, modern battery inside. You'd still look correct and that expensive case would be good forever.

A stock looking battery cover sounds like a potential new product.

which dont fit well and dont look stock.

And the Red Tops only come in size 24 which is not correct.

It might be OK in some applications where only the top of the battery can be seen like some Corvettes but Mopars are generally easily seen.

Seems the original batteries that come with oem cars always outlast anything out there...My 2000 ford diesel van has two batteies, I just changed the original motorcrafts last year... The new batteries are already having trouble turning the engine on cold days... they're loosing cranking amps and decaying at a much quicker rate.

You can bet the dealers don't want batteries giving up under the warrantee of a new car... I'm positive original oem batteries are "different" than anything you can buy over a parts counter.

For the record, the reproduction antique batteries never seem to last more than a few years no matter how much use they get...or how well they are maintained.

if a correct battery appearance is only important when you are showing the car, drain the acid out of the dead one, rinse it thoughly with distilled water and only put it in at shows. PITA i know but a battery will only last so long before it's eaten itself alive. then it will attack the case and unnoticed you will have a bigger problem on your hands - don't ask how i know! and thanks again for the GREAT customer service! i recommend you every chance i get!

I hear you...my story is exactly the same...
I bought it...4 years to the day it was dead and
I only had about 2K on my car (70 Coronet 2 door hard top)

Along the way, I had to constantly re-charge it
(from the car sitting to long and not driving it)...

The guy basically said... those old style acid
batteries only last 48 months under those circumstances...
True, I could have used one of those trickle charge devices etc...

It seems like for the money it should have lasted alot longer...
I loved the appearance but I got sick and tired of the poor performance.

Now I'm running an interstate... (it cost 1/3 of the AAB)
I hate the look...but I'm not forking over that much coin
for another one...

Seems like an awful lot of "reproduction" stuff in this hobby
works out like this:
It looks nice, promises a lot... delivers very little,
and costs a fortune...

Oh well... guess we signed up for it

Batteries seem to last longer when the vehicle is started periodically. I had problems when my cars sat 6-8 months, regardless of brand.

Batteries are one of those items that last longer the more they are used. They liked to be charged and cycled every day. The longer they sit, the shorter their life will be. That is why cars that aren't used everyday end up going through batteries faster. A car battery lasting 100,000 miles on the battery is more common than a car battery lasting 2,000 miles on the same battery. This has always been a problem on collector cars. A battery tended charger is a must. Just starting your car and letting it run once a month won't help. It takes many miles after you start your car to replenish the charge lost from starting the car, and even more miles to get the battery fully charged (like driving it all day). You'll spend more money on gas than you would for the price of a battery tender.
I volunteer at a very large car museum and all the batteries on the running cars are always rotated and charged on a regular basis. Batteries are being charged every day and when you get them all charged, you start over with the first one. We have several chargers going non-stop 24-7. It is a never ending process.
Lead acid batteries thrive from being cycled and they thrive from being topped off.

Same goes for batteries in everything else you use, like cordless tools. I have tools I use and charge every other day and those batteries last longer than the tools I use once every couple months.

While I agree batteries do typically last longer when used every day the first two batteries I had fail in my Challenger when the car was a fresh resto I was driving the car practically every day.. I lost them both in the first eighteen months.. I put about 25K miles on the car in that time.. It wasn't a garage queen... Those batteries were junk... The new sealed batteries probably are allot better but I will never know cause my Odyssey keeps on cranking it out...

That's why if mine lasts 4-5 years, I don't complain. I put less than 100 miles on my car since I put the maintenance free AAB yellow cap, group 24 in my car in 2007. It is my first non-lead acid battery and only my third repro battery (all from AAB) since 1989). I do not keep a battery tender on it but do periodically put the tender on it when my battery gets below about a 12.6 volts. I will put the tender on for a day or so and then forget about it the battery a couple of months. I warmed up the A12 and drove the car around the block on 12/3. Previously took it to a car show in mid September. The last time I started it before that was mid-June (trailered it to the Mopar Action show at Maple Grove). I just put the tender on it and it is holding 13.1 volts after only 10 minutes. I will definitely buy another Antique Auto battery when this one quits working.

Obviously, starting a car then immediately shutting it off will discharge the battery.

My point is, an unattended battery usually lasts longer in a car that gets driven 1 day a month, than a car that gets driven a few consecutive days every 8 months.