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Triumph TR3 - Battery: what capacity?

Last year I bought a virtually rust free 1959 TR3A. Not running: most parts were in boxes. Now I've assembled most of the car and I'm at the point of bringing back some life (power) into the car.
I'll go out and buy a battery. But: what capacity would you advice?
FYI: the car will be used only in the summer, so there's no need for extra power on cold days.

Any advice and/or comment will be useful!

Menno
Menno van Rij

I think any regular sized battery will function fine for you. What is that, about 750 to 900 CCA? There is plenty of room, but it seems size isn't a very good indicator anymore. If you're going for concours points, I think there are still people out there turning out tar top style batteries, and you can get Lucas decals to add the final touch. Enjoy your new toy!
Tom

Tom - You are right about the LUCAS batteries. I'm on my third one from Hudson, Ohio. It is not a decal. The name LUCAS is molded into the plastic casing. I paid an extra $10.00 US to have the lead straps exposed on the top to look even more like the original ones. They don't do it unless you specify it.


You also have to specify where you want the positive post to be located. This is in case someone has changed over to negative ground.

It looks like an old tar-top battery (my first one was tar) but it got dirty with sand and bugs stuck to the tar and was hard to clean. The newer two batteries came with a shiny black polymer that looks like tar but is easy to keep clean.

Each battery lasted me 5 years. Some people complain that these batteries don't last as they should, but they don't take proper care of them. Or they don't drive their cars enough to keep them charged up. I drive my TR3A only in the summer and take out the battery, place it on the lower shelf (wooden) under my workbench and give it a 2 amp charge for about a day every month all winter.

http://www.antiqueautobattery.com/

Don Elliott, Original Owner, 1958 TR3A
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trebor/don3a_big.JPG
Don Elliott

Thanks for the link, Don. Didn't know they went to so much trouble for the accurate look. Where can you get helmet cables? Are they as trouble free as the current style clamps? Do you just drill a hole in the post for a self tapping screw to hold them on? What is the correct type of screw? Panhead flat? This is just for other folks' info, as I'll never be spending that much to make my TR's accurate for concours. (Unless I win the lotto! And even then, the better half would probably have other uses for those funds.) Still, it's interesting.
Tom

I bought my helmet caps from a Jaguar parts supplier about 1992 and soldered them onto my own cables. Recently, I see that the entire cable sets with caps are available from the usual TR suppliers.

Use the new cap as a pilkot for the drill and you can drill down the center of the battery posts but the flutes on the drill will clog up with lead. Drill about 1/8" deeper each time, pull it out and unwrap the lead from the drill flutes. I found out the hard way that you can't use a tap to put threads in the hole. The lead just smears and fills the straight flutes of the tap. Then the hole is round with no threads. So I use the screw that will hold the cap to the post to make the threads. Maybe a self tapping screw with the correct head is the way to go.

The screws I use are straight threads and the head is much like the head on a flat-head wood screw where the "flat" head is slightly domed. The head is tapered for a chamfered edge at the top of the hole in the lead cap.

The posts on these batteries and caps are not always the correct size or taper. Often the screw holding the cap will be tight but the cap will still be loose in that it will rotate. If you try to tighten the screw more, you risk pulling the threads out of the hole in the lead post. What I do is wrap alumi-foil around the post to increase it's diameter till the space is gone and the cap is tight. Even if it's a bit loose, it will still work.

Don Elliott, 1958 TR3A
Don Elliott

This thread was discussed between 06/06/2005 and 09/06/2005

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