06-20-2016, 12:20 PM | #1 |
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33/34 Battery
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
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06-20-2016, 03:53 PM | #2 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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.
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06-20-2016, 04:04 PM | #3 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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06-20-2016, 04:05 PM | #4 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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06-20-2016, 04:21 PM | #5 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
Steve, Did you try amazon, they sell optima batteries and just may have one of those left over?
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06-20-2016, 05:37 PM | #6 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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Quote:
You could try a BFH: Results May Vary.
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06-20-2016, 05:48 PM | #7 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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.
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06-20-2016, 06:08 PM | #8 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
Quote:
But..... Hover boards ! Tesla's !
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06-21-2016, 09:51 AM | #9 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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 |
06-21-2016, 10:32 AM | #10 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
Quote:
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.
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06-21-2016, 09:58 PM | #11 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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
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06-21-2016, 11:08 PM | #12 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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.
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06-21-2016, 11:12 PM | #13 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
Quote:
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
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John "Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts". Albert Einstein Last edited by JM 35 Sedan; 06-24-2016 at 08:54 PM. |
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06-24-2016, 08:30 AM | #14 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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 |
06-24-2016, 09:06 AM | #15 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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. |
06-24-2016, 09:53 AM | #16 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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06-24-2016, 04:20 PM | #17 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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.
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06-24-2016, 08:44 PM | #18 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
Quote:
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.
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06-25-2016, 10:38 AM | #19 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
It might just be an optical illusion but the later version looks longer too.
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06-25-2016, 11:39 AM | #20 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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.
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06-25-2016, 01:17 PM | #21 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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 Quote:
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06-25-2016, 10:07 PM | #22 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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 |
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06-25-2016, 10:54 PM | #23 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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The only thing nice about being imperfect is the joy it brings to others.... "Silver rings, your butt! Them's washers!" "We shot our way out of that town for a dollar's worth of steel holes!" - from 'The Wild Bunch' - 1969 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NReUd2_0u0 Last edited by petehoovie; 06-25-2016 at 11:09 PM. |
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06-27-2016, 09:49 AM | #24 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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06-27-2016, 10:47 AM | #25 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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.
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06-27-2016, 12:47 PM | #26 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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06-29-2016, 03:14 PM | #27 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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 |
06-29-2016, 03:23 PM | #28 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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The only thing nice about being imperfect is the joy it brings to others.... "Silver rings, your butt! Them's washers!" "We shot our way out of that town for a dollar's worth of steel holes!" - from 'The Wild Bunch' - 1969 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NReUd2_0u0 |
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06-29-2016, 03:59 PM | #29 |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
I Put a Optima in a 34 the wood cover fitted ok ,you just hammer down the bracket / carrier straps a bit ,Ted
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06-30-2016, 06:48 AM | #30 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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Jim McIlvaine eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries www.facebook.com/optimabatteries |
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06-30-2016, 02:21 PM | #31 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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The only thing nice about being imperfect is the joy it brings to others.... "Silver rings, your butt! Them's washers!" "We shot our way out of that town for a dollar's worth of steel holes!" - from 'The Wild Bunch' - 1969 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NReUd2_0u0 |
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07-01-2016, 02:18 PM | #32 | |
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Re: 33/34 Battery
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Jim McIlvaine eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries www.facebook.com/optimabatteries |
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