1972 Reproduction Battery

[Gary J.]

Not a C3 guy, so what is the best Reproduction Battery to be used for judging, on a 1972. Trying to minimized the points. Thanks

[Jerome P.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

I have a Battery from Restoration Battery. It has worked for me at judging meets.

[Edward J.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

Gary, the heavy duty battery I believe is the only battery that will receive full credit, that's what I used in my 72 when judged. this may have changed since its been about 4 years since I have had my car judged.

[Ron G.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

Tom at Restoration Battery does a great job and probably has the closest thing to the original. I believe the original was an R89W which I had a several years ago but ended up selling it.

[Rick R.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

Tom is closing shop. He gets his batteries from Antique Auto Battery . They don't answer emails or phone calls anymore. ( Not just from me, from lots of people.) There's a thread on the AACA forum about them not responding. Although I believe that great work often comes out of " hole in the wall" shops, "fly" to Antique Batterys' location in Youngstown, Ohio via Google Earth. You'll be less than impressed. Stick a battery topper (heresy, lol) on a modern Delco battery and call it good. The topper won't fool anyone except some folks at local shows, but it does tone down the brightly colored stickers on the new batteries and makes them blend in with the rest of the engine compartment. Or spend $3K on a NOS battery that's probably no good.

[Steve B.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

I have heard that too. So sad to hear that Tom is closing shop. I have done business with him for many years and I wish him well.

[Ralph S.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

Original from my 1973 Corvette

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

I believe you can buy these directly from Antique Auto battery and from National Parts Depot. Someone chime in if I am wrong.
Jeff

[Wayne Y.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

excuse after excuse. Beware.

[Gary J.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

Since the the two battery suppliers seems to be going out of business and customer service is subpar with Antique Auto Battery, what is another choice?

[Steve B.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

I don't think that there is one. Hopefully I am wrong and if not I would think that someone will take their place. I guess we will see.

[Michael J.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

This is very disappointing to hear about Tom and his supplier, I too have done business with him for many years, and he used to own one of my cars long ago, very nice guy. Even though I always got a 7 point deduction on his real tar top batteries, they were about the best you could get. There are some one off rebuilders, but they are very expensive and some don't do it anymore, I talked to one in Florida at the regional and he won't do any. I think it may be that we are getting to just biting the bullet, taking the deduction, and using a modern Delco size 24 in our C2s.

[Gary B.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

... I think it may be that we are getting to just biting the bullet, taking the deduction, and using a modern Delco size 24 in our C2s.

[Rick R.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

excuse after excuse. Beware.

Tom told me the exact same story. Antique Battery was into his credit card for like $40K. I was/am reticent to repeat what he told me on this forum, but since Wayne has already shared the conversation that he had with Tom, I'll just confirm that that is what Tom also told me. Wayne's sad story was exactly the same one shared by another person on the AACA forum as well. Tom was probably one of ( if not their best) customer. It was a blessing in disguise in my view that they didn't answer my phone calls, as I was hot to buy a battery. Kudos to Tom for being a stand up guy and telling me that " yes they are my supplier," and for telling Wayne and I how things are when we called him.

[Larry M.]

Re: 1972 Reproduction Battery

Tom has used Antique Battery for decades. A few years back, wet cell reproduction batteries were still being made, but now just about everything is an Odessy (or similar) battery in a reproduction case with short interconnecting wires. I know a number of folks that have found their own original battery case and gutted and modified the internals to achieve a "new" battery that looks like the original.

If Antique folds, I suspect someone else will pick up this business, since it is mostly making various battery cases and adding a modern, purchased battery inside the case.

I think the Restorer even had an article years ago about making your own "original" battery with modern components. It is messy, but not difficult.

Larry