battery info

[JohnD1956]

I need a new battery for the 72 Electra but am having a problem getting any info on the original size or group. Would any one have such information?

Thanks

[BUICK RACER]

http://www.antiqueautobattery.com/general-motors.html

[Bhigdog]

If you are not having it judges try NAPA.............Bob

[old-tank]

http://www.batteryweb.com/bci.cfm

Your choices....

If the cables are still original, change them! Even a new high output battery will be gimpy.

[dmfconsult]

Hi John;

I have a Diehard Gold battery (Group 24C) in the Electra and it fits well in the tray and works with the hold down (overhead type) for the '67. Nice looking black battery and it's functioned well with limited use. Unfortunately, I don't see group 24C on the Diehard website, but that might be a Canadian thing... maybe 24F? I guess if you want to keep having the Electra judged in Archival, you will be limited to an AC Delco battery. Is your's an overhead clamp or base clamp?

Edited September 5, 2014 by dmfconsult (see edit history)

[JohnD1956]

I was planning on a Delco battery cause of judging. But I was not planning to buy a repop of the original battery. It's a good thing too cause the antique battery site shows the 72 Electra battery is unavailable, and gives no information regarding it's original dimensions. So I suppose I could just use the information for the ones they show for the A body cars. There is an AC Delco parts house nearby and the counter guy invited me in to look over their stock to see if they had one I would like. But their books don't give any further information on the 72 either. WTH?

[NTX5467]

I suspect it should list the production battery sizes in the "Specifications" section of the owner's manual? The ACDelco //parts-catalog.acdelco.com website shows a 78-series battery. Choices become whether a 5YR, 6YR, or 7YR version (with increasing CCA ratings as the pro-rate period extends). The industry "size" is "77BCI". This is the same size, I believe, as the old Group 27 battery. IF the 78-series battery is physically too large for the battery tray, then there should be a Group 24 equivalent size in the Delco listings. In any event, almost every one of these batteries will be more powerful than the orig battery was, I believe.

THANKS for trying to keep you GM call All GM.

Keeping the battery terminals clean is imperative for the alternator to make it's rated output on the vehicle. Even what might appear to be "minor accumulation" can knock about 10 amps off of the alternator's potential output, from what we saw in the shop several years ago.

Enjoy!

NTX5467

[JohnD1956]

Just found the chart from the 1971 Shop Manual on the TEAM BUICK website. Page 120-13 details the information I'll use. I am amazed that they used 5 different batteries in 71.

[bhambulldog]

If you are not having it judges try NAPA.............Bob

NAPA cut down the time of warranty on their batteries.

[NTX5467]

GM/Delco changed some of their warranty terms, too, buy I haven't fully researched that just yet. Seems like that all you get is the "free replacement" period? But as with all such warranties, the "warranty clock" starts with the original purchase date. If it gets a "free replacement", the SAME warranty clock applies from the original purchase.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

[RivNut]

Buy a Sears group 24 battery and put a "topper" on it.

http://www.batterytoppers.com/products/

If you have a problem, Sears will take care of the warranty and you can reuse the topper on the replacement.