Hold down for Optima 6V

[riversidevw]

The 8V NAPA battery installed by previous owner of the '55 Speedster died last week. I've already purchased an Optima 6V, had great luck with these in vintage Lincolns. The Lincolns locate the battery out of sight under the passenger side floor (miserable if you are servicing the big stock lead-acid battery, great for hiding the much smaller and lighter Optima).

I knew going in that this battery wasn't going to fit in the usual way. Positioned diagonally, it fits the original tray OK, but this puts the negative terminal and cable clamp seriously close to the OEM style rectangular battery hold down.

Any creative ideas for hardware? I've even considered a rubber tie down strap (effective but crude).

Gil Zimmerman
Riverside, CA

1955 Speedster
1956 Golden Hawk
1958 Packard Hawk
1958 President

[Tom Bredehoft]

I have one (6 volt Optima)installed in my '53, as you describe, diagonally, ground forward to the inside, negative terminal rearward toward the outside, there are curved cutouts corresponding to both locations in the hold down.

What I have done, which may help, I fabricated a dummy tar top battery case out of Formica, securing the battery in place inside the OEM hold down.

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Tom Bredehoft
'53 Commander Coupe (since 1959)
'55 President (6H Y6) State Sedan
....On the road, again....
'05 Legacy Ltd Wagon
All Indiana built cars

[riversidevw]

Good advice, Tom, thanks. With a bit of further trimming of the locator tabs at the base of the battery case (and more careful positioning of the battery in the tray) all went well. As a quick expedient, I simply trimmed a bit of material from the rear edge of a "topper" I already had on hand (intended for group 24 size 12V batteries). I don't usually get too excited about "hiding" my Optimas, but I do appreciate using the OEM hardware, even the washer bag hanger in this reasonably tidy installation.

Gil Zimmerman
Riverside, CA

1955 Speedster
1956 Golden Hawk
1958 Packard Hawk
1958 President

[Tom Bredehoft]

Yes, I had to trim the 'locator tabs' myself. I had called a distributor and gotten the dimensions of the battery, thus I knew it would fit, then those tabs had to be trimmed. I really love the power the Optima has, I've never cranked it down, the engine always starts first. I once turned the key the wrong way and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't fire. Then when I realized what I had done, it was flooded. I had to crank thru that, too, and it did.

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Tom Bredehoft
'53 Commander Coupe (since 1959)
'55 President (6H Y6) State Sedan
....On the road, again....
'05 Legacy Ltd Wagon
All Indiana built cars

[riversidevw]

Tom, with the Speedster update I've now Optima-ized all of my little Studebaker-Packard fleet, also my last vintage Lincoln. the nice original '54 Capri that pretty much replicates my dad's old car that I learned to drive in. I've had the experience of a couple of conventional lead-acid maintenance free batteries which exploded during starting in a geyser of hot acid, corrosive fumes and fragments. None in my vintage toys, thankfully. Both incidents happened to occur in batteries of a major national retailer (DieHorribly?), could probably occur in similar or related products.

Gil Zimmerman
Riverside, CA

1955 Speedster
1956 Golden Hawk
1958 Packard Hawk
1958 President

[Tom Bredehoft]

I was sold on the Optima when I returned to my '53 one spring (garage is attached to the house, below grade and doesn't get really cold) and found my lead acid battery with a dime sized bubble on one of the vents. It burst. Paint had protected the fender, battery case and hood, but the steering box had an inch of foam on it. It still won't hold paint. The car had not been run for 5 months.

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Tom Bredehoft
'53 Commander Coupe (since 1959)
'55 President (6H Y6) State Sedan
....On the road, again....
'05 Legacy Ltd Wagon
All Indiana built cars

[Kdancy]

Tom, dampen that area with a mist bottle and pour some baking soda and let set for awhile, then wash off. It should neutralize the battery acid.