Car batterys-what one to buy?

[bobs409]

I'm considering buying a battery for my 66 Chevelle with 409 but could use some help deciding which one to buy. (I've been "borrowing" a battery from one of my other vehicles for my occassional rides but it's a pain swapping them all the time)

I've been looking at Autozones site to get some ideas. Here's what they have from biggest to smallest:

Duralast Gold $69.99 (8 year warranty)
700 COLD CRANKING AMPS (875 CRANKING AMPS)

Duralast Gold $69.99 (8 year warranty)
900 COLD CRANKING AMPS (1000 CRANKING AMPS)

Duralast 7YR $54.99 (7 year warranty)
700 COLD CRANKING AMPS (875 CRANKING AMPS)

All Season $44.99 (6 year warranty)
550 COLD CRANKING AMPS (685 CRANKING AMPS)

Econocraft $34.99 (3 year warranty)
450 COLD CRANKING AMPS (565 CRANKING AMPS)


As near as I can tell by looking at my '63 shop manual, originally the 409 cars would need something around 350 cranking amps. As you can see above, all of these are more than that.

So what cranking amp should I go with? Is there such a thing as too big? Should I buy elsewhere?


Thanks,

[jester]

I think I have said somethimg like this before. There is no replacement for COLD CRANKING AMPS !
Batteries are pro rated Warrenties never meant much to me. Buy the biggest that will fit in the box.

[droptop62]

Bob,
No such thing as too big.
It wont do you any harm to have the bigger battery.
It just means there is more there when you really need it.
By todays standards I would buy at least a 600 CCA on the low side.
I have the Optima 800 CCA battery in both my cars The Chevelle and the Belair.

[BobsBB]

I have to go with jester, and droptop, go with the cranking amps :clap , ya know its just like buying a pair of shoes, buy cheap, your feet hurt, and they dont give you what you want when you need it....go for the amps..the 09 deserves it :brow

[Dond409]

Bob,

I also have a Optima in the wagon. 935 cold cranking amps. These batteries are rather expensive. I've seen them for $99.00 at Summit and Jegs. I've had it three years now and not a problem. No maintenance either. It's a sealed unit.

[jester]

In my younger days, I would have wired together two six volt batteries for more plates and CCA.. If I broke down I could always get it home cranking on the starter.

[Fran Preve]

Curiously I just bought a Optima 2 weeks ago. I had to get a duel post that fiit my Corvette and that was a 75/35. 720 cold crank/910 @32 degrees. The regular post have 800 cold and 980 at 32, two sizes. These are "red top" and the spec's are from an Optima tech sheet. Jegs and Summit were $126.00, I got mine from REMY battery (sales@remybattery.com) or
remybattery.com (ask for John, the guy I talked to). Their price was $73.45 plus $12.07 (to my ZIP code) or $85.52. Nice guys, answered all my questions, got it in 3 days and I'll go back again. That said I bought it because I run my fan on a manual fan switch to cool it down with the engine off and Optimas have a better "bounce back" than a normal battery. I just got it and just started using it so that's all I can say right now.

I had an 875 amp in my van, Exide, two went bad, replaced with a 450 amp no name that works just fine. Needless to say I'm down on Exide ( I think it's a 450 Econocraft)

I have had very good luck with an Interstate 875 in my wife's race car.

That said for the extra $15 dollars go with the 900/1000, but the 700/875 would be perfectly OK for what your using it for, biggest that will fit the tray.

[bobs409]

Thanks for all the input. :clap It's settled then, when I'm ready to purchase, I'll get the biggest, baddest battery I can! :rofl

I just bought the cheapest one I could find from Autozone for my truck. It was 29.99! I also put on a new starter (from Advance auto-lifetime warranty-they'll be sorry for that the way I keep vehicles! :D ) and now it spins so fast, it sounds like I have a mini starter on there!

I do on occasion have the "heat soak" start problem with the 409 so I'm hoping those extra cranking amps will fix that.

[Ed51]

I know this is almost sacrilege,but put a F**d solenoid on that 409 and that ought to fix it.

[Fran Preve]

Definately do what Ed said, makes it easy to hook up a remote starter button too (for cranking while under the hood).

[bobs409]

I thought about it but never could get myself to do that to my Chevy. :D I'm betting the battery might fix it as it rarely does it anymore. Up until now, I've been using whatever battery I had. Most times, old batteries of unknown CCA's. I used to buy new blemished batteries at a nearby junkyard for $25.00 a pop. I'd get 4 to 5 years out of them but never knew what size they were. They did fine for the small blocks but the 409 probably needs more.


One of the reasons I think a battery with more CCA's would help is that whenever my starter got heat soaked, all I had to do was to jump start it and it would crank right up. A bigger battery might do all that for me. :brow

[Ed51]

You are in luck Bob,GM put these solenoids on some motorhome chassis' so you wouldn't be putting a F**d part on your Chevy! Besides,F**d made a few good things...like rear ends that won't crumble like a stale cookie! :dunno

[SS425HP]

How do you put a F***d solenoid on a chevy starter? That's a new one on me. Sounds like a good idea, but HOW?

Fred

[jester]

Thanks for all the input. :clap It's settled then, when I'm ready to purchase, I'll get the biggest, baddest battery I can! :rofl

I just bought the cheapest one I could find from Autozone for my truck. It was 29.99! I also put on a new starter (from Advance auto-lifetime warranty-they'll be sorry for that the way I keep vehicles! :D ) and now it spins so fast, it sounds like I have a mini starter on there!

I do on occasion have the "heat soak" start problem with the 409 so I'm hoping those extra cranking amps will fix that.

I wired two 12 volts together. 1900 CCA will spin the 09 like a aircraft engine in flight.

[Fran Preve]

Bob: the biggest battery in the world won't solve your heat soak starting problem, but your going to find that out for yourself. You've been lucky buying junk yard batterys (@$25!), a GOOD battery with a warrentee shouldn't cost more than $50 dollars, and you'll get a free replacement in a year warrentee most of the time, pro rated after that. I'm cheap, REALLY cheap, but some things aren't worth "cheaping" over. I had your problem with header heat on my race car and ended up with a mini starter and remote solinoid. I know it will drive you batty.

Fred: you bypass the Chevy solinoid completely and mount the remote solinoid on the firewall or fender panel. It's a racers trick, someone out there should be able to describe how better than I.

[bobs409]

I did pretty good with the cheapy battery I just bought for my truck. $29.99 and it has a 3 year warranty.

The junkyard batteries are good, they just have visual blemishes here or there. I had decent luck with them over the years but I think I'll buy from a store from now mainly for the warranty but more importantly to know what it's rated at.

I can't say whether a bigger battery will help or not with the heat soak but the fact that a jump start always gets it going implies that it just might help. (but I may be wrong) How else can that be explained?

Also, for the first 4 years of running the 409, I had a bad battery the whole time and didn't know it! With that battery, I would get the no start condition ALOT! It would even do it when ice cold sometimes believe it or not. Whenever it wanted to, no start. It drove me NUTS!!! :doh (plus I had a solenoid heat sheild that was shorting out) :eek:

That battery finally died so I started using one out of one of my other cars and the no start condition practically disappeared. It was only then that I realized the old battery was the trouble all along. During those first years, I changed solenoids, R&R'd the starter for testing and other hair pulling good stuff more times that I care to think about. (a 409 stuffed into a Chevelle with headers isn't fun when it's starter removing time I can tell ya!)

Well, once the upcoming insurance bill is paid, I'll most likely buy a battery and put it to the test. I'll report what happens later....



One thing about using the Ford solenoid that I don't like is it makes it easier for someone to steal the car. I know, it's not that hard to hot wire a car in many other ways, but with that solenoid sitting right there, it's too easy/tempting.

[Ed51]

Try this www.oldengine.org/unfaq/solenoid.htm

[Fran Preve]

Here's another thought, battery cables. Are the SUBSTANTIAL?. Best to use is SIX volt, they're heavier. How about your ground?. A GOOD ground is important.