33/34 Battery

[Steve Staysko]

I have a 34 Ford script battery with an Optima battery inside the case which is deader than a door nail and Optima doesn't make that size battery anymore. Does anyone know of a manufacturer that makes a battery that fits the original battery carrier? If not I may have to modify the battery carrier to fit a lead acid battery. I cant find anyone that builds a battery that's the right size let alone Ford Script battery case any suggestions? Thanks

[Angledrive]

Suggestion: hook a known good battery fully charged to your dead optima. Hook charger to known good battery and set charger on low. Charge for 24 to 48 hrs. Then unhook and check voltage of Optima. If over 10.5 or if 6 volt, 5 volts, then hook charger directly to Optima and charge for a few hours. You just might salvage it.

[Steve Staysko]

Originally Posted by Angledrive

Suggestion: hook a known good battery fully charged to your dead optima. Hook charger to known good battery and set charger on low. Charge for 24 to 48 hrs. Then unhook and check voltage of Optima. If over 10.5 or if 6 volt, 5 volts, then hook charger directly to Optima and charge for a few hours. You just might salvage it.

Yes I already tried to bring it back to life just like you suggested and it wouldn't hold a charge at all...

[lotsagas4u]

http://cgfordparts.com/ufolder/fordp...ber=OPT-2LF-SP

[keith oh]

Steve, Did you try amazon, they sell optima batteries and just may have one of those left over?

[ford38v8]

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Originally Posted by lotsagas4u

http://cgfordparts.com/ufolder/fordp...ber=OPT-2LF-SP

If you read the C&G description, it clearly advises that the Optima sticks out the bottom of the 2LF case by 1".

You could try a BFH: Results May Vary.

[1935coupe]

don't know if this will work but I just bought a 6 volt lithium battery for a motorcycle as a emergency hot shot it is small and is rated for 275 cca. After I looked at it I thought I should get 3 and do what you are doing.

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by 1935coupe

don't know if this will work but I just bought a 6 volt lithium battery for a motorcycle as a emergency hot shot it is small and is rated for 275 cca. After I looked at it I thought I should get 3 and do what you are doing.

That's an idea!


But.....

Hover boards !

Tesla's !

[OptimaJim]

Steve, rumors of the discontinuation of our 6-volt batteries are greatly exaggerated. Now, finding one in Canada may be a little trickier, but all our major retail partners should be able to order one for you, if they don't have one in inventory.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by OptimaJim

Steve, rumors of the discontinuation of our 6-volt batteries are greatly exaggerated. Now, finding one in Canada may be a little trickier, but all our major retail partners should be able to order one for you, if they don't have one in inventory.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

Jim, your reply deceptively implies that the redesign of the Optima 6v still fits the Ford 2LF case, which it does not.
Apparently you are ignorant of the difference between a 2LF and a 2HF, or you are a salesman of the most despicable variety.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

[Karl]

Steve there is place somewhere online that provides brand new exact size and appearance Ford script rubber cased batteries- I'm sure it will be at a cost but they are out there-Karl

[tubman]

I have never had a reproduction battery that was not a big waste of money. Of course, this was 10 or 15 years ago when I swore off of them. They may have gotten better since then, but I wouldn't buy one unless I had a good report from someone I trusted.

[JM 35 Sedan]

Originally Posted by OptimaJim

Steve, rumors of the discontinuation of our 6-volt batteries are greatly exaggerated. Now, finding one in Canada may be a little trickier, but all our major retail partners should be able to order one for you, if they don't have one in inventory.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

Jim, never heard rumors of your six volt red top Optima batteries being dicontinued. The redesigned, ~ 1/4" taller, 6v red top Optima is available all over the internet with Amazon offering the best price that I can find + free shipping. In reality the Antique auto battery manufacturers stopped producing the 2LF Ford script batteries, that looked like the original lead acid batteries, except with the Optima hidden inside, because they no longer fit w/o cutting out the bottom of the case. The 2HF battery with an Optima hidden inside is still available, but will not fit correctly into the stock floor mount battery box of the earlier Ford V-8's w/o making some changes.
If you really want to do something constructive for the hobby, convince your company to make an Optima that will actually fit into an original style 2LF case again. JMO

[OptimaJim]

My apologies for mis-reading your post Steve. When I read, “I have a 34 Ford script battery with an Optima battery inside the case which is deader than a door nail and Optima doesn't make that size battery anymore” my first thought is that the applications I've seen like that are typically 6-volt batteries and we still make those. They can be challenging to find at some retailers, because they are not big sellers and many retailers don't want to give up shelf space for them.

Alan (and John), I finally tracked down one of our longer-tenured engineers, who was traveling on business this week. When I asked him when we re-designed our 6-volt battery, he looked at me like I had a third eye. Re-designing any of our products requires a significant investment in capital and tooling. I sat through part of that process when we started offering the DS46B24R, which is identical in every way to our Group 51 battery, except that it has the “pencil post” terminals commonly used on the Prius. I've only been working for Optima since 2009 and even at that point, I wasn't privy to all the aspects of the business. So I guess I have to ask you guys at what point did you notice a change in the design of our 6-volt batteries?

If I can find that out, I can at least have another conversation with our engineering team about the changes made to the 6-volt. I would say it is unlikely that any changes would be made in 6-volt production without significant commitments for additional volume that will justify the expense. I'm not allowed to disclose production volume, but everyone in the industry knows 6-volt sales are by their nature low volume, because it's a 12-volt world. It would probably take an OE customer, like the VW Eos, to make a legitimate business case for a change in the 6-volt because a small segment of the collector car market just isn't big enough. Is it possible there was a change around 2005 or 2006, which led up to the launch of the Eos?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

[rotorwrench]

Long gone are the simple times when the batteries were just rebuilt. The tar was scraped off and old cells removed for scrap. The case was cleaned up and a new set of cells were dropped in then recovered with new tar. Add electrolyte then charge it up and it was good to go.

The EPA would have a field day with that process but it was likely cleaner than the salvaging process that scrap batteries go through now days. I watched a documentary on the modern process not too long ago and it was a nasty mess.

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by OptimaJim

My apologies for mis-reading your post Steve. When I read, “I have a 34 Ford script battery with an Optima battery inside the case which is deader than a door nail and Optima doesn't make that size battery anymore” my first thought is that the applications I've seen like that are typically 6-volt batteries and we still make those. They can be challenging to find at some retailers, because they are not big sellers and many retailers don't want to give up shelf space for them.

Alan (and John), I finally tracked down one of our longer-tenured engineers, who was traveling on business this week. When I asked him when we re-designed our 6-volt battery, he looked at me like I had a third eye. Re-designing any of our products requires a significant investment in capital and tooling. I sat through part of that process when we started offering the DS46B24R, which is identical in every way to our Group 51 battery, except that it has the “pencil post” terminals commonly used on the Prius. I've only been working for Optima since 2009 and even at that point, I wasn't privy to all the aspects of the business. So I guess I have to ask you guys at what point did you notice a change in the design of our 6-volt batteries?

If I can find that out, I can at least have another conversation with our engineering team about the changes made to the 6-volt. I would say it is unlikely that any changes would be made in 6-volt production without significant commitments for additional volume that will justify the expense. I'm not allowed to disclose production volume, but everyone in the industry knows 6-volt sales are by their nature low volume, because it's a 12-volt world. It would probably take an OE customer, like the VW Eos, to make a legitimate business case for a change in the 6-volt because a small segment of the collector car market just isn't big enough. Is it possible there was a change around 2005 or 2006, which led up to the launch of the Eos?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

Jim, I was in my grumpy old fart mood the day of my criticism so please accept my apology for that. Your engineer may not want to address the subject of the redesign, as it likely had been a Bad Day at Black Rock in those days. From what we've been told in the past, there had been a rash of internal faults at the post connectors, the fix resulting in the additional 3/8" (or so) height of the case. All we know for sure is that it used to fit the 2LF before the redesign.

[carguybill]

When I installed an Optima in my '34 a couple of years age I had to drop the battery carrier by 3/4". Bottom line I love the Optima and will never go back to the "Reproduction" battery. On the other hand I'm not interested in serious concour showing.

[JM 35 Sedan]

Originally Posted by OptimaJim

My apologies for mis-reading your post Steve. When I read, “I have a 34 Ford script battery with an Optima battery inside the case which is deader than a door nail and Optima doesn't make that size battery anymore” my first thought is that the applications I've seen like that are typically 6-volt batteries and we still make those. They can be challenging to find at some retailers, because they are not big sellers and many retailers don't want to give up shelf space for them.

Alan (and John), I finally tracked down one of our longer-tenured engineers, who was traveling on business this week. When I asked him when we re-designed our 6-volt battery, he looked at me like I had a third eye. Re-designing any of our products requires a significant investment in capital and tooling. I sat through part of that process when we started offering the DS46B24R, which is identical in every way to our Group 51 battery, except that it has the “pencil post” terminals commonly used on the Prius. I've only been working for Optima since 2009 and even at that point, I wasn't privy to all the aspects of the business. So I guess I have to ask you guys at what point did you notice a change in the design of our 6-volt batteries?

If I can find that out, I can at least have another conversation with our engineering team about the changes made to the 6-volt. I would say it is unlikely that any changes would be made in 6-volt production without significant commitments for additional volume that will justify the expense. I'm not allowed to disclose production volume, but everyone in the industry knows 6-volt sales are by their nature low volume, because it's a 12-volt world. It would probably take an OE customer, like the VW Eos, to make a legitimate business case for a change in the 6-volt because a small segment of the collector car market just isn't big enough. Is it possible there was a change around 2005 or 2006, which led up to the launch of the Eos?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

Jim, some pictures attached of two Optima 6V Red Top batteries. The one on left in these pictures, date coded June 2001, is the shorter version that would originally fit in the 2LF Ford Script battery cases. The one on right, purchased ~ 2007/8, is 1/4" to 3/8" taller than the one on the left, and is the same height as the most recent Optima 6V Red Top that I purchased in 2015. This taller version will not fit in the 2LF size cases w/o cutting a foot print of the Optima out of the bottom of 2LF cases. This is what we are calling the re-designed Optima that was made taller to supposedly provide additional space at the top for current carring parts that were shorting and causing failures in the shorter/earlier versions.
You could download these pictures and send them to your engineering team so they can better understand what we are talking about.
Thanks for your help on this.

[rotorwrench]

It might just be an optical illusion but the later version looks longer too.

[Steve Staysko]

Nope thats no optical illusion this battery of which I bought the complete package from Optima about 8 years ago and is the shorter version that fits in the 2LF Ford Script battery cases.

[jstrez5]

Hi Steve,

Just read your post, and I had the same problem with finding a battery for my 1939 Ford Deluxe, but this is what I did.

I bought an optima V6 red top on Amazon ( https://www.amazon.com/Optima-Batter...+top+6+volt%5C)
and then bought a case from Quail Services ( http://quailservices.com/index.html ) the vintage case is 2LD-II. I did buy a ford script at a car show and added it to the case. Quail Services was great to work with though and are very helpful. I had to make a cut diagonally in the bottom of the case so that the optima would fit and it worked perfectly. I will add a few photo's of the final product. Good luck and hope this helps!!

Jim

Originally Posted by Steve Staysko

I have a 34 Ford script battery with an Optima battery inside the case which is deader than a door nail and Optima doesn't make that size battery anymore. Does anyone know of a manufacturer that makes a battery that fits the original battery carrier? If not I may have to modify the battery carrier to fit a lead acid battery. I cant find anyone that builds a battery that's the right size let alone Ford Script battery case any suggestions? Thanks

[Milt K from Pa]

Steve,
There are two suppliers of correct script lead-acid batteries. One is located in Hudson, Ohio and the other is in New Castle, Pa. If you need their names, I will have to go through my resto folders to find them. Let me know if you need them. My '34 Roadster has one in it, though the first one I installed had a problem with the electrolyte was weeping out through the screw caps. Weird!!!

Milt K from Pa

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by Milt K from Pa

Steve,
There are two suppliers of correct script lead-acid batteries. One is located in Hudson, Ohio and the other is in New Castle, Pa. If you need their names, I will have to go through my resto folders to find them. Let me know if you need them. My '34 Roadster has one in it, though the first one I installed had a problem with the electrolyte was weeping out through the screw caps. Weird!!!

Milt K from Pa

I think you'll find that your previous suppliers/vendors (in your "resto folders") no longer supply the Group 2LF battery....I hope I'm wrong....

[Steve Staysko]

Originally Posted by Milt K from Pa

Steve,
There are two suppliers of correct script lead-acid batteries. One is located in Hudson, Ohio and the other is in New Castle, Pa. If you need their names, I will have to go through my resto folders to find them. Let me know if you need them. My '34 Roadster has one in it, though the first one I installed had a problem with the electrolyte was weeping out through the screw caps. Weird!!!

Milt K from Pa

Milt yes please give me there contact info and I will give them a call. Thanks

[JM 35 Sedan]

I talked to the folks from Antique Auto Batteries, out of Ohio, at their Spring Carlisle setup. They definitely no longer produce the Optima hidden inside the 2LF script case and for some reason they no longer produce the old style lead acid 2LF w/script case, and even if they did, I would highly recommend NOT buying those because of the short life and high cost. They are apparently making the 2HF script version and I saw one on their display table. The other company I am aware of who is/was making a script 2HF battery, is "Restoration Battery" also located in Ohio. Both companies have websites that can be easily found thru Google.

[Steve Staysko]

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I spoke to the owner at Restoration Battery and the Ford 2 LF Ford Script Reproduction Battery is discontinued.

http://www.restorationbattery.com/2lffordscript.html

[OptimaJim]

John, thanks for taking the time to post those photos. That newer battery is fairly old and the other is even older. Our engineering team did confirm a design change was made more than 10 years ago, in conjunction with being the OE battery for the VW Eos. The additional height accommodated the vent port, which was needed for the Eos application. While that may seem like a bad deal for you guys, because the re-design prevented the battery from fitting into dummy cases, it actually works out pretty well in the bigger picture.

OE contracts like that one help make a business case not just for initial production, but replacement batteries in specific sizes for quite a long time. I don't know if we'd even produce 6-volt batteries anymore, if it weren't for that VW business, which had a ten-year run. Hopefully, we'll keep producing them indefinitely, but OE business certainly helps.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by OptimaJim

John, thanks for taking the time to post those photos. That newer battery is fairly old and the other is even older. Our engineering team did confirm a design change was made more than 10 years ago, in conjunction with being the OE battery for the VW Eos. The additional height accommodated the vent port, which was needed for the Eos application. While that may seem like a bad deal for you guys, because the re-design prevented the battery from fitting into dummy cases, it actually works out pretty well in the bigger picture.

OE contracts like that one help make a business case not just for initial production, but replacement batteries in specific sizes for quite a long time. I don't know if we'd even produce 6-volt batteries anymore, if it weren't for that VW business, which had a ten-year run. Hopefully, we'll keep producing them indefinitely, but OE business certainly helps.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

I don't care about the 6 volt optima fitting in a "dummy case". I'd just like it to fit in the original battery carrier/holder in the floor of my '34....

[FlatheadTed]

I Put a Optima in a 34 the wood cover fitted ok ,you just hammer down the bracket / carrier straps a bit ,Ted

[OptimaJim]

Originally Posted by petehoovie

I don't care about the 6 volt optima fitting in a "dummy case". I'd just like it to fit in the original battery carrier/holder in the floor of my '34....

I understand that Pete, because I'd like to be able to pick up the phone and order a replacement hood for a '69 Mercury Montego. Unfortunately, there are not enough of those cars on the road or enough demand for their hoods for the aftermarket to make them available like they do for '69 Mustangs, Camaros or Challengers. There may be even fewer '34 Fords on the road. While we were able to make a business case for 6-volt production for the VW Eos that had a side benefit of making 6-volt Optima batteries available for other antique vehicles, there is no business case to be made for us to change the battery case to fit any specific antique vehicle. We haven't even been able to make a business case to do another run of BlackTop batteries for Ford GTs, almost all of which are still on the road...or in someone's private collection.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by OptimaJim

I understand that Pete, because I'd like to be able to pick up the phone and order a replacement hood for a '69 Mercury Montego. Unfortunately, there are not enough of those cars on the road or enough demand for their hoods for the aftermarket to make them available like they do for '69 Mustangs, Camaros or Challengers. There may be even fewer '34 Fords on the road. While we were able to make a business case for 6-volt production for the VW Eos that had a side benefit of making 6-volt Optima batteries available for other antique vehicles, there is no business case to be made for us to change the battery case to fit any specific antique vehicle. We haven't even been able to make a business case to do another run of BlackTop batteries for Ford GTs, almost all of which are still on the road...or in someone's private collection.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

So, when can we expect Optima to stop the manufacture of their current and only 6 Volt battery???....

[OptimaJim]

Originally Posted by petehoovie

So, when can we expect Optima to stop the manufacture of their current and only 6 Volt battery???....

That's a good question and fortunately, I don't have an answer for it at this point. I would say if we ever did elect to discontinue a product or size, I would push very hard for us to make an announcement ahead of time, to allow folks to stock up. I don't think there's any concern for scarcity of 6-volts in general though, as they are still very popular in golf cart & RV applications.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries