The 'E' Type Forum

Hi all !!
I think it's time for a new battery for my '66 series 1. I've never been one for budget solutions but neither am I an expert on all things batteries !!
So... is there a stand out recommendation for a new battery or is it,within reason,much of a muchness ? As usual,your thoughts would be very much appreciated !!

Hurry up warm weather,
Best regards

Neil.

Depends if you want it to look original or not. If not important then Bosch, Varta, etc will be fine. If the car is idle for long periods worth connecting a battery conditioner to cycle it a bit and keep it topped up. Original looking batteries are £££.

Hi Julian,and thank you !
Car is always on a conditioner and yes,at the moment sits for 2,3,4 weeks at a time idle.
Previous owner fitted some kind of 'marine ' battery which,I feel,is now at the end of its life,and ugly !! Although I'm very much all for originality,I can overlook aesthetics in favour of quality with regards to the battery. So very much function over form for me,in this case.

Best regards

Neil.

These guys do good classic batteries.....
https://www.lincon.co.uk/classic_car_batteries.html

Mike

Hi

I've just replaced my Halfords battery with a new one. I let the old one drain too often but now have a trickle charger. I take the view that I'd rather have a working battery that has a three year guarantee and can be swapped out at any local Halfords if it goes wrong. My car is not a show winner, it's a driver so definitely function over form. Mine is a HB072, cost £90 and starts up a treat.

John

I get mine from here...they are local to me in Watford.

https://www.denkapower.com

All they sell are batteries and if you take in the old one they weigh it and give you money back for it I

Much better than that well known high at shop and cheaper too...

Looks aside, many of the racers and collectors I know are using Optima batteries.

They use absorbed glass matting, seem to last for ages and produce loads of amps.

Very suitable for a car that spends much time doing nothing that has a large engine.

The Optima battery charger is amazing too.

https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/r ... ng-battery

I have a Banner Power Bull battery, been in my car for 14 years and still going strong. I've used them on other vehicles and they always seem great. Not too big, fit in E type battery tray (well, my one anyway) and looks good (I think!)

James,
Which one do you use, the Red, Yellow or Blue top version ?
Do they come with free sunglasses !

Red Top.

Really good video James, I'd never heard of "Spiral" type batteries. Explains the basics well. I'd like to see a comparison of the amp hours, cranking amps etc size for size with standard batteries though.
Did see on the link you provided that even the smallest red top battery is 7inches by 10inches. That's too big for my tray. The banner power bull I use with the same amp hours, 44, is 2 inches shorter. So size may be a problem for some?

I have an Optima. Excellent performance for churning and starting the big lump on a car that is not on the road. I haven't quite worked out how to secure it in the car, but it does just fit in the space available.

Monkeyfinger wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 12, 2019 12:51 pm

I have an Optima. Excellent performance for churning and starting the big lump on a car that is not on the road. I haven't quite worked out how to secure it in the car, but it does just fit in the space available.

Some of us have used the tray type shown in the link below. I had to relieve the perimeter of the tray very slightly in a couple of spots with a grinder and it dropped right into the opening. To affix the tray to car drill holes in the bottom in appropriate locations (there are voids between the cells if you look at the bottom). The battery obviously drops into the machined aluminum tray and is locked in by the brackets at the bottom flange of the battery. There are other manufacturers using the same design. I don't know if the external dimensions are the same as the Wieland kit. There are also different part numbers depending on the Optima model number. I believe my battery is a 34, but can't recall for sure and the car is not accessible at the moment.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/34-78-BHD-Bill ... Swa-dWkwXx

Neat fit. Only thing I would observe is it does not seem to be strapped in or secured by a clamp etc....in the UK (technically at least) an unsecured battery would fail an mot....if of course you submitted your car for one and I know we no longer have to.....

Hi Julian...have another read of the post above...and look at the link.....battery is clamed and held at the bottom..Steve

Missed that bit

That's a smart solution and somewhat better than the central strap I was planning to work on.

Hi all !!
Brilliant response,thank you so much.
Spoilt for choice !!
The Optima looks a little like what's on there already but I'll give it some thought and shop around once I've decided !
Best regards as always !

Neil.

Hi Neil.
I use a Yuasa battery part number YBX3214 it fits very well . I have fitted a few & they last very well.
I get mine from BBL batteries good price too.
I have not had much luck with the old type of batteries I find the cases are prone to splitting .
Hope this helps Neal.

Just picked up this post as I am looking for a new battery. Loads of advice I see! I am not worried about period look, just want a battery that is black so I can put a Lucas sticker on it! A number of suggestions have been made from Yuasa YBX3214 (which seems to have the terminals the wrong way round from the picture I get on the Battery Shop website), Halfords HB072 (ditto re the terminals and too big to fit my tray) and a Banner Power Bull P4409. My question is, when looking for a battery, apart from making sure it fits the tray, has the terminals the right way round and is black, can someone advise me as to the cranking start up amps and the AH values? My assumption is that I should be looking for a battery that has a start up value of around 540/550 amps and an AH value of at least 60 amps. Is that correct? My current (knackered) one is an Oldham battery with 570 and 60 respectively. Once I know these requirements I can then narrow down the field - oh and one that is not too expensive!

Any advice appreciated.

Malc