battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

[Kenneth M.]

All Vett guys,

Preparing for NCRS flight judging and have a question about the battery.

I plan to buy an after market correct DELCO / 12 V / "poly tar" top (not a soft real tar top),
this is period correct with a manufacure date correct for the build date of my 1963 corevtte........will this battery be accepted without point deductions?

[William C.]

Re: battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

Depends on how sharp the judges are, but usually will have a deduct.

[Dennis C.]

Re: battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

Batteries fall under the standard deduct guidelines. Take a look in the Judging Reference Manual for the deduction.

Dennis

[Mike L.]

Re: battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

could be a 7 point deduction

[Harry S.]

Re: battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

could be a 7 point deduction

A non-tartop Delco will get hit with 12 points. A new Delco is about $84.00 a new repro tartop is about $284.00. Is the 5 points out of 4500 worth $200.00??

I'd rather put the $200.00 in restoring an original part.

[John D.]

Re: battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

I can remember when my 63, the LWC was trailered to a Marlborough regional around 2006. Had a real deal tar top battery in it. Problem with the poor battery is it was mutiliated at the show by a lot of the members on this board here as it had many finger prints in the soft tar.
Now I am just being cute. Mike Lombardi should remember that battery. Trouble is the battery didn't have much Cranky power in it and FI cars need a strong battery.

Ken, If you plan on chasing the points with your car it's you must buy and study the Judging Reference manual. It's the answer to a lot of your questions and a great way to say big bucks. John

[Mike L.]

Re: battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

John, I remember it like it was yesterday, nice to hear from you. Mike

[Michael H.]

Re: battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

Has anyone figured out what the story is on batteries for 63? I think heard that the battery part number changed mid year? One (early?) part number had yellow caps and the later part number that replaced it had black caps? Or was it the other way around?

[Kenneth M.]

Re: battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

Mike,
I understand that from Oct 62 to Jan 63 the DELCO battery had yellow caps with back letters.....sometime in Jan 63/Feb 63 the battery caps were changes to black caps with yellow letters

[Michael H.]

Re: battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

Mike,
I understand that from Oct 62 to Jan 63 the DELCO battery had yellow caps with back letters.....sometime in Jan 63/Feb 63 the battery caps were changes to black caps with yellow letters

Thanks Ken. I was looking through several old factory photos a while back and noticed the change in color. I wonder if the battery part number in the AIM changed around that time?

[Stuart F.]

Re: battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

The one I had the yellow letters turned white in a short while. For judging, it pays to have a new set of caps with nice yellow letters. Only takes a few seconds to change, but may do nothing but impress - not help with points.

Stu Fox

[Ronald L.]

Re: battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

Were the factory batteries not with solid yellow caps, service parts with yellow caps having black letters???

[Michael H.]

Re: battery for 1963 corvette build date april 1963

Were the factory batteries not with solid yellow caps, service parts with yellow caps having black letters???

Ron,

I don't remember what color caps the service batteries had, or if the letters were black. I'll try to dig out the factory pictures that I have. Pretty sure that yellow caps in the pictures had black letters.