Battery preferences?

[Gasman]

Guys
My battery has suddenly terminated. Does anyone have views on a replacement. Do I just go to Halfords and ask for a match?
I presume getting one posted is out of the question so local sourcing is my only choice.
Any comments most welcome

Mark

[dougweall]

Guys
I presume getting one posted is out of the question so local sourcing is my only choice.
Mark

Not so my friend, when I needed a battery for my S4 Elan I contacted Lincon Batteries, Leigh on Sea.

http://www.linconbatteries.co.uk/

They make Classic car batteries, they look exactly like the original style.
Ask to speak to someone who knows what they are talking about (not the secretary) the guy I spoke to was very knowledgable about what I wanted, did not try to sell me something OTT.
I ordered about midday and it arrived (dry with distilled water in bottles in a box) at 9am the next day. Brilliant service and the battery does the job. In fact I bought a hydrometer and a charger from them as well.
By the way the battery cost ?41 + vat.

Hope this helps,

Doug.

[cliveyboy]

Batteries on my classic cars tend to have a very hard life.
Half their time is spent cranking engines over as I constantly work on them.
If the car is used regularly the battery lasts much longer
My philosophy is get the battery with the highest ampage with the longest guarantee.
I regularly claim new batteries under the 2-3 year guarantees.

Clive

[triumphelan]

I fitted to my S4 the largest amperage battery that would fit in .the original 037 was cr@p

[Jason1]

Hi

The original battery is the same as the old Mini which is 37 Ah and is sh*t. I bought one tryed to crank the car over, very slow cranking

I went into halfords and bought the biggest Ah battery I could find with post terminals that would fit in the hole. I think it is an old Diesel Ford Escort battery. No problem cranking now

Jason

[mikealdren]

The limitation is the physical space and the original design used the small and low performance Mini battery. Combined with the long cable run, this means that performace is always a bit marginal.
There are certainly higher performance batteries available now and it is possible to fit slightly larger ones in the existing space (watch the terminals don't get too close to the fuel tank!)
For my non-standard car, I am following the Spyder route and doing some fibreglass work to increase the size of the battery well so I can fit a larger battery and also fitting higher performance cables.

Mike

[Dave_Newcastle]

In my plus 2 I fitted a Halfords 015 which I understand is a heavier output, but dimensionally the same as an 037. It certainly fits ok and does the job.

Dave

[Frank Howard]

As far as physical size is concerned, that is designated by the Group number. At least for conventional lead acid batteries in the states, it is. I found that any Group 51 battery will fit into an Elan boot. The one I use happens to come from Sears, but other retailers carry Group 51 batteries. They are probably all made by the same manufacturer.

As far as CCAs are concerned, I went a different route. It is my understanding that, given the same Group number, the difference between an 850 CCA battery and a 500 CCA battery is that the 850 CCA battery has more plates inside, and as a result, they must be packed closer to each other. The closer the plates are to each other, the better chance for corrosion to set in across the plates during periods of storage i.e. the winter. This leads to premature battery failure.

Seeing as the battery is only asked to crank a puny 1.6 liter motor primarily in warm weather only, why would I need 850 CCA? It really is overkill, so I specify the lowest CCA battery available in the Group 51 size, mainly to reduce the chances of premature battery failure due to corrosion due to the plates being so close together.

How do I know the lower CCA battery will suffice? On January 13, 2007, seeing as there was no salt on the roads (unusual this time of year) I decided to take the Elan for a spin. It had been sitting in my unheated garage for about a week and as a result, the fuel had drained out of the carbs. I have the mechanical fuel pump and after cranking it for about a minute, it fired up and I took it to breakfast. The outside temperature was -3F, or -20C. The garage temperature was probably 12F or -11C.

Remember, these lower CCA batteries are probably twice as powerful as the batteries that came with the car from the factory in the first place.

[Dave-M]

Sorry to sound boring, but my +2s has the cheapest possible battery and it has proved totally reliable in daily use. The battery is now nearly 5 years old and is getting ready for replacement.
The reason? Lumenition ignition for instant starts and regular cleaning of the earth connection in the boot/chassis. When I bought the car the previous owner had fitted this battery one week previous along with a recon dynamo, regulator and all new ignition parts in an attempt to fix a starting problem.
I bought the car checked all the connections and earths, put on the lumenition and the job was a good un.
The choice of alternative batteries only matters if you neglect the obvious and dont use the car on a regular basis otherwise a standard battery is perfectly adequate.
Probably years of lotus ownership previously gave me a head start over the previous owner in respect of earth connections
Regards
Dave

[msd1107]

Something not directly addressed here was the battery cable.

The Elan has a very long cable run, so a top notch cable is required to minimize voltage drop along the run.

If you are using a cable more than 10 years old (and who isn't?), corrosion, age, cracking, and other maladies have probably reduced the current carrying capabilities of the cable and have added a small amount of resistance to the run.

So get a new cable. Get a heavier than specified gauge. Make sure the cable is properly crimped into the connectors on each end. Make sure the connections to the battery and starter solenoid are fresh and clean metal to metal.

Even the wimpiest battery will start the engine then.

Then do like I do to extend the life of the battery. I live in the Hollywood Hills. When the battery gets old, I just roll the car out of the garage, jump in, and 10 meters later snick it into 2nd gear and away I go!

David
1968 36/7988

[dlbarnes1]

"Seeing as the battery is only asked to crank a puny 1.6 liter motor primarily in warm weather only, why would I need 850 CCA? It really is overkill, so I specify the lowest CCA battery available in the Group 51 size, mainly to reduce the chances of premature battery failure due to corrosion due to the plates being so close together"

Good comment. If higher CCA is a tradeoff for longer life, then lower CCA would be preferable for a given size battery in our Elans. But, note that higher CCA, for a given size battery, generally comes with a longer warranty (relates to longer life) at an increased price. I would stick with the lower CCA as being the more effective selection for the Elan.

The group 51 battery is a good fit size wise, but I have found that the group 45, only slightly wider, has lugs at the bottom that allow the use of the original brackets for hold down.

Dave 72 Sprint DHC




[/quote]

[chrishewett]

I agree with Dave-M.
I also have a small cheap battery which I bought over two years ago. It has sometimes gone months without being used but never fails to spin the motor readily. I have an electric fuel pump and aldon electronic ignition. I have also made sure all connection and earths are good. The engine always starts easily.
Chris