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I know that this has been covered over and again, but I cannot find any of those old posts! I am in need of the battery or part number for an appropriate 6 volt battery for my 50 Super Deluxe 8. I have been using an Optima, but it went to battery heaven this past winter. I am looking for the numbers from Tractor Supply... anybody remember those numbers?

Dear Paul:

I think what you want is the Group 2E battery

it's 19 7/16 long 4 1/8 wide and 9 1/8 high.

Just tell them you want a 2E 6 volt tractor battery

Paul,

I understand that Optima batteries, if severely discharged, can still be "brought back to life". This YouTube video may be of assistance.

Try the Tractor Supply or NAPA store near you.

(o{}o)

NAPA still stocks the 6-volt 2E lead/acid battery and that's what most folks I know with Clipper-body cars use. They give excellent life - usually about 6 years.

Deacon Weeks. If you got good service from an Optima, why not buy another? That's all everyone in my circle use, Cords, 54-year-old Ferraris among them. The Optima in my '47 Super is eight (8) years old and as good as new. 800 cold cranking amps. Weighs only 12 or so lbs. vs. 56 lbs. for the 800 cold cranking amp heavy duty 3EH i once used, or 38-40 for the standard EE (if memory serves) wet cell. No off-gassing, no terminal corrosion. Weight's the enemy in any car.
Some might have a fetish for original batteries. I don't. I'm strictly interested in the car. Batteries, tires, fan belts, motor oil weren't made by Packard.
You couldn't pay me to use one of those heavy wet cell batteries again. Packards are nose heavy enough as 'tis.

If you're concerned about "keeping up appearances," there are plastic cases styled like traditional wet batteries into which you can slip the Optima. But if you skip this artifice, you can use the rest of your long battery tray as a convenient place to put tools, etc. when you're working in the engine bay. G'luck.

I use the Optima 1000CCA 6 volt in my 1954 Cavalier.

As I recall it cost me about $90 at batteries plus.

Cranks good and fast.

Stays nice and clean with no leakage.

You could get two of these on the shelf, I have a small 12 volt for my add-on AC sitting next.

I had considered strapping two in parallel if I ever removed the 12 volt.

Jim

Man, now I have to think about all this! I was just planning to motor over to the nearby Tractor Supply and buy a new battery. For whatever reason, I thought my Optima cost like $285 or so???!!! If Optimas are available for $90, then I'd probably go that way again.

I bought a Battery Tender for the old Optima, you guys think that was what killed it??? Should I not do that with the new battery?? Just askin'???

I know that there are people on here that love them, but I think that battery tenders are a money making farce. Every winter my collection sits 2-3 months while I am away. Every spring I just get in, turn the key and start them. If I had a car with a functioning clock I would pull a battery cable for storage longer than a month. Being a cheapskate, I usually buy the cheapest batteries I can find and most last 5-6 years. A tender might be a good idea for a seldom-used car with a computer that constantly draws.

Optimas do hate to be overcharged--saw a tractor with a bad regulator ruin one in an afternoon. Otherwise, they are amazing.

For what it's worth, I bought a NAPA battery (model BAT 7205) 2 years ago for my 50 Super. Your car would take the same one. Its dimensions match the original exactly, so no issues fitting it in the tray and the holddown. I think it cost around $140. See here:

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?R=NBE7205_0398998961

It weighs 40 lbs and has operated perfectly for me. And I've never fussed with a battery tender (in Michigan, my car hibernates in the garage for ~ 4-5 months every winter)...and I even keep the battery cables (size 00) attached.