Battery

[lyndon Sharpton]

anyone know what the correct service replacement AC Delco battery is for 71 with a 454 ?

[Joe L.]

Re: Battery

lyndon-----

The world of automotive batteries is ever-changing. If you want a "correct" (or, nearly correct) battery, then you'll need to get one from an automotive battery reproduction source like New Castle Battery.

However, if you're after a service replacement battery of Delco manufacture, then you want a Group 74 side terminal battery. Also available (and very likely MUCH easier to find, will be Group 70 or 78 "dual terminal" battery. This type has both side terminals AND top posts. It's much more convenient for charging or jump-starting a car, but it's less "correct" in configuration (NO Corvette of any year model was EVER originally equipped with a dual-terminal type battery).

GM, the first and one of the few automotive manufacturers to ever adopt side terminal batteries across their product lines, has "reversed course". Beginning in 2003, or so, GM started phasing in top terminal batteries across their product lines. Corvette was one of the first.

This will likely create a problem for side terminal-only battery availability in the future as I would expect that the "dual terminal" configuration will begin to take over completely for SERVICE. That will create a real problem for C4 owners since a dual terminal battery will not fit in most, if not all, C4s.

[Jack H.]

Re: Battery

Standard battery was Model R89S for '71 SB cars with the factory T60 option (T60) being an upgrade to the Model R89W. The heavy duty battery (R89W) was standard equipment for all '71 BB cars....