Correct Battery Group for '65 Riviera

[Foxlovescars]

1965 Riviera 401 cu in with a/c. Bought my car with a 24F battery in the tray.

Question #1--is this the correct battery group for my car?

Question #2--had rust-acid damage in the tray. I fitted a new tray on top of the old one (higher by only 1/4", but now the top terminals

are dangerously close to the hood when closed). Has anyone else encountered this same problem and solved it by using

another group battery that is not as tall?

Thanks,

Frank O'Donnell

GDI Restorations

Troy, VA

[RivNut]

I'll try to answer your questions as you asked them.

1) Type 27 is the size that came with the car originally.

In factory photos, you'll see the positive terminal closer to the radiator; the negative terminal will be closer to the fender. When they were new, the batteries of the day were the tar tops with the caps for water. The factory photos show the Pos cable being laid between a couple of caps. I know that this makes the pos and neg cables cross each other, but you can put an arch in the neg cable when you tighten it against the P/S pump bracket. There's a clamp on the inner fender for holding the pos cable in place.

2 ) Take it from me (1st hand experience) you DO NOT want the pos terminal to come into contact with the hood or the fender. Lot's of sparks, lots of burnt wiring, big tow bills, and lots or work to fix it. This happened to be about 25 years ago when parts were much more readily available. I'd hate to think of trying to fix a mess like that now.

I'd get rid of the plastic tray entirely. If there's no tray left, figure out a way to tack weld something in there. If there is still some tray left, anything thin lying across the bottom might help. You want to keep as low of a profile as you can. Make sure that you have a good battery hold down clamp and that everything is snug. You don't want the battery to be able to move around and perhaps make contact and create a short.

Good luck. Really you're lucky you recognized the potential danger when you did.

Ed

Edited July 15, 2012 by RivNut (see edit history)

[steelman]

The difference in a Group 27 battery and a Group 27F battery is the poles are reversed on the 27F. A 27 and a 27F are mirror images of each other.

[RivNut]

I should have added that by using a 27F, you can put the + post closer to the radiator AND the posts are on the back of the battery. It improves hood clearance and the way your cables lie.

Ed

[Foxlovescars]

Ed:

What plastic tray are you referring to? The original tray is welded on top of the inner fender platform and it is steel, and my replacement tray is a heavily-painted metal with large "+"s cut into the bottom for drainage and running bolts through. Because the platform itself has pitting and rust I did not want to cut out the existing tray if I didn't have to.

Frank

[RivNut]

1965 Riviera 401 cu in with a/c. Bought my car with a 24F battery in the tray.

I fitted a new tray on top of the old one (higher by only 1/4", but now the top terminals

are dangerously close to the hood when closed).Frank O'Donnell

GDI Restorations

Troy, VA

Frank

I guess that I assumed this was plastic. If it's a 1/4" steel plate it must weigh more than the battery.

Ed

[Foxlovescars]

I'm sorry if I confused you. The new battery tray SITS 1/4" higher when secured in the original car's battery tray that is still in place. In the Service Manual, the dimensions of the original battery (group 27) are listed with height at 8 13/16" and are very close to the underside of the hood when closed to start with. I will switch the battery over to a group 27 when I find one that's a little less tall. I am unable to use the new top brace that I ordered from CARS on the group 24 that came in this car as well. Just to be on the safe side, I also ordered a pair of the black rubber battery cable end protectors from CARS. They work well to insulate the top post connectors.

Thanks for all the help.

Frank

[RivNut]

Another obvious solution to getting rid of the proximity of the + battery post to the underneath side of the hood (and this would be applicable to those of you who aren't going for 100% authenticity) would be to use a side post battery. You'd need different cables but spending that money is just piece of mind. Here in the KC area, there's a NAPA regional distribution center. They will custom make cable for you - any gauge, any connetor. I had some cables made from 0 guage wire, red for the +, black for the -. They work great. The next time I need a new battery for the '64, I'm going with the side post style.

Ed

[steelman]

They used to make posts that screw into the terminals of a side post battery to attach the top post terminals to. Then you can attach the factory ends to a side post battery. These were popular when the side post battery first came out in the late 70s.

Edited July 16, 2012 by steelman (see edit history)

[Foxlovescars]

All:

I will take RivNut (Ed's) suggestion on purchasing a 27F which will put the posts further back on the top of the battery and not be as tall as a group 24F.

Thanks again,

Frank

[RivNut]

Steve et al,

Those are called charging posts and can be found at most jobbers.

Ed

[60FlatTop]

When my son was about 1 week old on a hot August day we took a ride in my Riviera. I was younger, less anal, an less attentive then. I was driving without a battery hold down............ and the + post on the fender side. We stopped for a cross road where I put the ponies to work on the launch. The car just cut out and coasted to a stop. I got out and started for the front of the car. There was a BIG explosion and liquid running out ahead of the front tire. The battery had rocked back and grounded, well, welded, to the hood. Andy is 30 now and I have never had a problem with the Riviera battery location since. My wife remembers how hot it was to sit in that car with a newborn still. I just checked, she confirmed it.