Re: long case batteries

Posted by Fred Puhn On 2013/7/27 12:35:25

When I got my 1950 Deluxe 8 it had a nearly new NAPA battery and the battery hold down frame was missing. I bought an original hold down frame from a Packard and it did not fit. This was due to a slight interference on the width. Then I bought a battery hold down frame off Ebay and it did fit, but it looks wrong. I used that until the NAPA battery died about a year later.

I went to NAPA and bought a battery off the shelf and put it in. It was dead and would not take a charge. I returned it and they told me the battery had been sitting in their inventory for several years with electrolite in it. I got one from another store and had the same problem. After the 3rd one I gave up and bought an original reproduction Delco for $250. It was shipped dry so there was no problem with age on the shelf. It looks great and the original Packard frame fits.

If you buy a NAPA battery (or any other) make sure it is not used up by sitting on the shelf with electrolite in it. The stores do not but them on a trickle charger and they go dead sitting. A dead battery is hurt fatally if it is not recharged right away.