Time for a new battery.... Suggestons Please

[rmk]

I have a yellow top OPTIMA battery that came with my 55. Bought the car in the Fall of last year and if I don't have a tender on the damn thing, it's not reliable. And what else do you look for in a battery more then reliablity. ZIPPO.

I'm not up on all the new batteries out there. Die Hard used to be the choice back in the 80's when I had my first car ('67 Chevelle) but I'm sure there are better choices out there now.

Any suggestions? I have a Z3 350 with vintage air and an aftermarket stereo to power up. This piece of garbage has got to go.

Thanks.

Rich

[r66ss]

Originally Posted by rmk

I have a yellow top OPTIMA battery that came with my 55. Bought the car in the Fall of last year and if I don't have a tender on the damn thing, it's not reliable. And what else do you look for in a battery more then reliablity. ZIPPO.

I'm not up on all the new batteries out there. Die Hard used to be the choice back in the 80's when I had my first car ('67 Chevelle) but I'm sure there are better choices out there now.

Any suggestions? I have a Z3 350 with vintage air and an aftermarket stereo to power up. This piece of garbage has got to go.

Thanks.

Rich

Rich

Just my experience, but, Im running the same battery as you, been installed in the trunk for 3 yrs, and know trouble at all, I dont even start her, or even put a trickler charger on it either , She sits in a heated bldg, all winter.In spring when I'm ready to fire her up, few pumps of gas , and she fires right up.
Just my experience with these batteries. She even has a quartz clock.

[MikeKy55]

I have a red top in mine and it's been good to me over the last 3 years. I have TPI on mine and don't disconnect it. I did pick up a Battery Tender though, just for safety. The way my luck runs, it would go down the day before my house catches fire and it sits in the garage under the house. :eek:

[rmk]

i haven't heard anything bad about them either but today was the second time i needed to get jumped. and that was just picking up my kid from school. the car was only off for 5 mintures. came back. DEAD. not sure. i know the battery is almost 4 years old (lets say 3 and a half) but this is a 200 buck battery.

[chevman57]

Rich the yellow top Optima is the one i plan to use also. But one you may want to check into is my neighbor informed me this weekend that Continental makes a gel cell battery also. I use to use the continental acid batteries all the time until i lost my connection for them.
Terry

[chevender]

Hey Rich, I have a red top in my street rod that so far has been good to me. But I have noticed quite a few guys having problems with the optimas going dead for no reason. Meanwhile I have a die hard in my 65 that gets started up once a month. It never fails, and it's eight years old.
Rick

[scotty t]

duralast from autozone. i won't buy much else from autozone but their batteries are the best i've ever used. i've never gotten a bad one. had one for years in a car that only got started a few times a year, never had to jump it. the ones that were used regularly have never failed.

[JC213]

There is another option other than Optima now in the spiral cell battery family... Exide Select Orbital. Same general qualities as optima from a different name and its carried through wal-mart. If i remember right the warrenty is much longer than the optimas i have had in the past... 2 year free replacement, 84 month pro rata warranty, which was my main concern. About the same price, a little less $ than optima red top but the numbers are a bit better on the cca, 950 cca @32 degrees. Anyway, Exide is said to be the oldest and most experienced battery manufacturer in the universe and backs it up with a warranty you can claim at walmarts that are everywhere and always open. One other nice option I think is that they all come with top posts and front screw in posts...
so here is another option for good batteries.

[rmk]

thanks for all the feedback on such a boring topic.

[1956ChevyBelAir]

Well as for my '56 the battery in it is the one that was in the car when I got it almost three years ago I've not have not a bit of trouble out of it, But as for getting a battery you might try your junkyard, Our local junkyard sells the batterys that are in the crashed or junked cars my dad just picked up a brand new die hard battery with the plastic still on it for $25 bucks it is only a month or two old and works great he has been buying batterys from them for years and not got a bad one yet!