Delco Battery Topper Resto

XXXGoldL34M20 · #1 09-23-2011, 05:32 PM

I recently restored my battery topper to look more realistic than the way it comes from the repro company.

I noticed that the NOS batteries had the "<span style="color: #FF0000">Delco Energizer</span>" in red were the repro is just plain black and also i was not happy to settle with a Delco Eye that was a fake on the repro were the NOS ones are a real eye.

At a local swap meet i bought the real set of Battery caps with a real Delco eye. I cut down the Delco eye to fit on the topper so it would sit flat on the modern battery, i also added a strip of green painters tape on the modern Delco battery to give the eye that nice green color background.

Next i hand painted the embossed DELCO ENERGIZER letters on the topper along with the Positive+ marking. The Battery caps were all glued in with The Right Stuff gasket sealer along the sides as they are looser than the tight fitting repro caps.

Finally i bought velcro circles at the dollar store to insure a nice tight crab on the top of the modern delco battery and i also removed all the factory stickers along the side of the modern battery so all you see is black plastic.

The end result is amazing, a lot of guys do not even know it is a topper anymore!

See photos for before and after shots and how an NOS battery looks, as you can see my topper now looks more realistic!

You can do this for the side terminal topper or top post topper.

**mockingbird812** · #2 09-23-2011, 06:47 PM

Looking good Danny. Nice attention to detail!

**Canuck** · #3 09-23-2011, 07:50 PM

Awsome, I love this stuff,thanks for sharing.

Paul

**Salvatore** · #4 09-23-2011, 07:58 PM

Yeaa, real nice job. A big difference!

**SS427** · #5 09-23-2011, 08:21 PM

Beautiful job on the battery Danny. What a differenc that makes!!

One thing to note for other LS6 owners, if this is being used on an LS6, these did not come out till very late in the 70 model year (late July and later in most plants) and were destined for the 71 models and LS6's with this battery are exceptionally rare today. Previous to that they used the R79W battery. The R79 had both 3/8 positive terminal and 5/16" negative terminal whereas the R89 had both 3/8" terminals. To confirm, look in box 49 on your build sheet which will call out for either the R79 or R89 battery. The R79 also did not use the red Delco lettering.

**mockingbird812** · #6 09-23-2011, 08:27 PM

Great detail Rick!

XXXGoldL34M20 · #7 09-23-2011, 09:27 PM

Rick you are correct with your comments but i copied a R89W NOS battery as that is what the Sticker is on a Reproduction battery topper. See the first Photo of the R89W NOS battery.
I think the R79 battery had a smooth finish on the top were the R89 had that grainy look.
But what is confusing is i found this R79 NOS picture with the red painted letters/
I am guessing that when the batteries were new in the car it did not have the red letters but when you replaced the battery later on and got one over the service counter they did have the red letters?

**njsteve** · #8 09-23-2011, 11:01 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that white plastic "Danger Poison" tag is a modern warning label. The originals didnt have them. Kind of like the infamous Ford "Caution Fan" sticker found on all Camaros.

The topper modifictaion looks awesome, BTW.

**Ls6 Ragtop** · #9 09-23-2011, 11:08 PM

Danny,
The assembly line batteries did not come painted as you guessed and the service replacements were indeed painted. Assembly line batteries also had a different date code format from from the over the counter batteries for warranty purposes.
The R79W was very similar in appearance to the later R89W as the case was the same textured looking plastic. The R79 and R79S batteries were rubber cased exactly as in your reference photo. R89 and R89S batteries were also rubber.
All 69-70 sidemount style batteries used the 3/8X16 threaded positive connection and the 5/16X18 threaded negative connections.
71-Up sidemounts switched to 3/8 for both connections and a downsizing from 7/16 hex to 5/16 hex mounting hardware as used on 69-70 models.
Your battery topper looks great, you can also get a more correct R79W sticker for it if as Rick has noted your car was built before July of 70. I've only seen 1 buildsheet for an LS6 built in July and it did indeed have R89W in the battery box 49 as well as 71 coded battery cables.
Chris

XXXGoldL34M20 · #10 09-24-2011, 12:27 AM

Thanks for the info guys.
My LS6 definitely came with the R79W Battery as that is what is stated on the build sheet in box 49, it is an April 1970 built car.
My original battery cables are the side-mount style with the 3/8 x 16 threaded positive connection and the 5/16 x 18 threaded negative connections.
Does any company make the sticker with the R79W noted?

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