Restoration battery

[Michael G.]

Should a November, 62 built car have battery caps that are yellow with black lettering, or the reverse?

[Stuart F.]

Re: Restoration battery

Michael;

Hope you get some good responses on this. I left my decision up to Restoration Battery based on my date code. Mine is a July 9 build and has black caps with yellow lettering which will turn white in short order while in use. I keep a spare set of new caps in the glove box for show.

Stu Fox

[Chuck W.]

Re: Restoration battery

I believe that the caps should be Yellow w/ Black lettering until January 1963 when they reversed to Black w/ Yellow lettering.

[John D.]

Re: Restoration battery

The 5th edition on page 113 doesn't have a definite time frame for the yellow versus black caps.
Just says "early 63 models have yellow plastic caps and the remainder of 63 and all of 64 used black caps" I left a few words out.
The repro caps don't hold up very long. Color washes out quite quickly. The original caps are color coated the whole way thru. JD

[Michael G.]

Re: Restoration battery

Thanks, for the comments, guys. After posting this, I was looking through some old posts here and someone said that a repop battery will get you a 2 point deduction in flight judging. That made me wonder what the visible difference between an original battery and repop from the leading company is.
Anybody know?

[John D.]

Re: Restoration battery

Michael, Look in the Judging Standards concerning battery deducts. The repro battery is typically more than a 2 point deduct. Without looking I think it's at least 8 points. JD

[Edward S.]

Re: Restoration battery

Last time I had my car judge by NCRS I lost 7 points on a great looking, correctly dated Poly Top not a Tar Top.

[Michael G.]

Re: Restoration battery

Is there a visible difference, or is it just the "feel" of the tar that's obvious?

Thanks

[Michael G.]

Re: Restoration battery

I've just been told that there was an article in the Restorer that discussed the procedure for melting tar onto the top of a restoration battery. This seems like it might be more than a bit tricky, so does anyone know when (or in which issue) such an article was published? (I couldn't find it in a search)

Thanks,

[Hank D.]

Re: Restoration battery

Volume 35, Number 1 (Summer 2008), Page 35.

[Michael G.]

Re: Restoration battery

Thanks Hank, I guess I'll finally order the restorer discs and find that issue.

I've now found that Corvette Central advertises a Tar Top battery with real tar, that you've got to fill with real acid, as the original. Anybody tried this?

[John D.]

Re: Restoration battery

Michael, You are better off with a nice plastic sealed tar top. Less chance of the battery acid doing damage.
Rumor has it that the old New Castle Battery company/Turbo charge (sp) is supposed to be making a tar top. But that is just a rumor. JD

[Michael G.]

Re: Restoration battery

Hi John,

Well, I ordered a new battery for each of my cars and now they have both arrived. I have a sealed, plastic top tar, maintence-free Restoration Battery for my black car and a new real,sticky, tar-top, lead-acid battery (from Corvette Central) for my blue one.

The cars are 250 miles apart, so I haven't seen the two batteries together, but I think they're prettey close in appearance. I'm gonna take some pics and compare them. The tar top is not date-stamped, but I'll figure out how to do that.

Your concern about acid damage is certainly well placed, so, I may not put the acid battery in the blue car until I have it judged. In any case, it looks like I won't have to start pouring hot tar any time soon.

[Gary B.]

Re: Restoration battery

Early 63 batteries should have yellow caps with black lettering. The lettering (font) on reproduction caps is thicker than on original caps and will in many cases result in a deduction as will a poly top. The deduction is 10% if the battery is not dated, 30% if the reproduction differs from the original desing and construction in minor detail. The battery is worth 25 points so the 30% will result in a 7 to 8 point deduction dependin on the judge. There is a real tar top reproduction available that does not differ with the exception of the lettering on the caps. I also believe they only have the black caps with yellow lettering. If your battery is not dated, you must burn the date in with heated number stamps. Do not try to stam them or you will destroy the battery.

[Michael G.]

Re: Restoration battery

Gary,

The real tar top that I received has yellow caps with black lettering, I'll post some pics later in the week. If anyone could post a pic of a genuine tar top, for comparison purposes, that'd be great.

Thanks,