I received an email from TurboStart on Friday explaining a relationship they have formed with Remy Battery. It looks like the TurboStart restoration batteries are going to be available for a limited time. Here is a link if you guys want to investigate the offer. I have not talked with Remy but will on Monday and see if I can work something with them to get us a better deal. I'll keep you posted....

Fred Gilmore

http://www.remybattery.com/turbostart.aspx

Thanks! I thought I missed out on getting a decent battery!

If you have an old one still laying around, I have done this twice now. I cut mine apart once it died & added a Odyssey light weight racing battery inside. Not a race car, but it did go from like 54 lbs down to 18 lbs. It has more cranking amps & turns over much faster now than the re-pop Mopar red top batteries do.

From the top in my car.

i do have an old one laying around, and have been contemplating this. someone posted a step by step instruction list on how to do this, but my hesitancy has been just dealing with the mess of all the gel and lead. sounds like a pretty messy operation. i have a gel cell, so that is probably better than lead acid, but still doesn't sound like fun.

Yes, it was messy. I wore gloves & safety glasses due to the acid. I just set the battery upside down in my oil change pan which is one of the larger pans obviously. Cut the bottom off with my cut off wheel, pulled out all of the guts. Drilled & tapped the bottom of the original lead posts. Bolted some 12" long battery cables to them & then ran the other end to the new racing battery & shoved it all in. Works great, I am on my 4th or 5th summer now on this same battery.

It took about 1-1/2 to two hours to do, with cleanup....

6PKRTSE,

Just curious, any specific reason you chose the Odyssey PC925 battery? I was looking on their website and saw that the battery weighs 26 lbs. and has 330 CCA....sounds like it works like it should.

I also gutted one. Drained and Cut the top off neat.
Then I drilled and taped the post I can go 2 ways that way, to hook up cables. I can use the washers and post as shown, and use a top post terminal.
Or a cable end with washer and bolt.
I did detail the plastic box. like you would do a yellowed head lamp.
And added some angle plastic I had with epoxy to the lid to keep it in place. Looks like angle iron but is plastic




As you can see with the red top caps it was not yet 100% polished up yet

Every once in a while hollow "display batteries" come up on ebay. I used to call on parts stores and garages while working as a sales rep and found quite a few that the owners were willing to part with at reasonable prices. I have converted several of them with Odyssey batteries or the like.

just curious Fred if anything else came up as far as a better deal, thanks

Summit used to have a great price on these but everybody is out now. Just bought a couple from Antique Auto Battery and they have held up well so far. Have had trouble with the gel cell Turbo Start ones, only get a year or two out of them.

Are you securing the new battery in any way inside the shell? Or are the cables stiff enough to hold it from moving around too much?

Thanks!

Great thread and ideas guys. Thanks for sharing!

Cables will secure the battery, but I added some heavy foam padding for extra measure.

Which battery is correct for a 70 cuda 440-6

OK, is it just me, or does it seem that just selling the empty Battery Box and creating a kit (inner cables, foam, etc) so that anyone could make their own battery as shown would be perfectly fine for 99% of us?

Why deal with a battery company?

Make a box that snaps together and I can go to a local store and buy a battery myself.

Fred, do you own the tooling for the empty box and caps?

It depends, so the only way to know what it came with would be to check the battery section of your broadcast sheet if you have one for the car.

I'm sure if someone does do that they will charge $500 for it.

Rule of thumb back in the day was 1 CCA per cubic inch of the motor. I wouldn't use a 330 CCA battery on a 318 car. Might be good for a Slant 6.

It was my impression, that big blocks used a group 27 battery. Or are you talking which Resto battery? If so, the red cap later model year 1969-74.