Optima battery users please.....

how do you secure yours down? the stock battery hold down wont reach the battery,because its not wide enough.Ive tried 3 diff batterys and all are the same width.

Mine was a little wide too but If I put the clamp on a little crooked and tightened it down, it still worked fine and held the battery great!

Aaron

i just let it sit there. dont move 3 years now and still good.

Both of mine have Red-Tops and both are secured fine by the stock holder.

I had to notch the side of the battery tray closest to the fenderwell opening to get the battery to sit down in the tray. After that the stock holder held it fine. The Optima seems to be slightly longer than OEM batteries.

FWIW, I have an early third-gen.

Mine just sits there. I figure if I'm upside down the last thing I have to worry about is my battery.

i notched a small rounded place out of the block that holds it down to get my yellow top in place. the notch was rounded, about 1/4" deep and probably 1-2" wide. i did it in like 5 minutes with a hobby knife.

Originally posted by Red96Lt1
Mine just sits there. I figure if I'm upside down the last thing I have to worry about is my battery. NHRA rules require batteries to be secured with a battery clamp of some kind.

like others said, I just put the factory holder on crooked and tightened it down, it worked fine. This was on my Impala.

i have a red top and it sits in there just fine. it was a little tight getting it in there due to the plumbing from the radiator...but otherwise, no hold-downs or anything, it just sits there on its own

Nothing holding my red top down, and the tech guys never said a thing to me about it. :)

As noted by ws6transam, there is a "lip" around the edge of the battery tray/coolant reservoir. I just Dremeled the lip off the tray and the Optima Red Top fit fine with the stock clamp. Of course it didn't last more than 6 months, but that's another issue. :)

Fasten it down....

Mmmm, if you really are having that much trouble go to advanced auto or auto zone and have them do it. When I bought my Optima the guy installed it for me, he was a pretty bad ass guy too. He was tellin me how much more he liked the LT1 vs the LS1, I think he just wanted to make me feel better :p

Originally posted by Injuneer
... the Optima Red Top fit fine with the stock clamp. Of course it didn't last more than 6 months, but that's another issue. :)
....

I too am a little disappointed with the red tops performance. I've got mine located in the rear and just can't keep it charged... I noticed on your web site that you've gone to a Delco Professional Battery. How do you like it and where did you get it?

BTW: I absolutely lust after your TH400/gear vendors setup... :eek:

Lastly, do you have any pics of the griffin radiator install? What fans? Don't mean to steal the thread, your website just brought up some questions for me. What a great job you've done with the car!

Thanks, TJ

Originally posted by TonyJ
I too am a little disappointed with the red tops performance. I've got mine located in the rear and just can't keep it charged... I noticed on your web site that you've gone to a Delco Professional Battery. How do you like it and where did you get it?
My car seems to spend a lot of time "on blocks"..... and the Optima seemed to drain very fast, even though I couldn't find any significant current draw. When my car was in the shop for the stroker build, the Optima was always dead, even though it was only 6 months old. When we finally got the engine running, it would never hold a charge. One day while the shop was working on the tune, they got p'd off and threw the Optima in their battery graveyard, and put the AC/Delco professional in. When I asked them why they did that, they showed me their dead battery pile, and 75% of them were Optimas.

Since then, I have been using a "Battery Tender" to maintain the battery in an ideal state of charge, even while the car sits in the garage over the winter. The Delco is 4 years old now, and never had a problem of any kind with it.

On the other hand, a friend of mine with a 30th SS relocated his Optima Red Top to the back, and actually hung it outside the car under the trunk floor pan, right in front of the bumper, laying on its side. His lasted 5 years like that. He only replaced it when he upgraded to a 16V system. He did have a problem with charging, only because he failed to use heavy gauge wire for both the +12V leads.

BTW: I absolutely lust after your TH400/gear vendors setup... :eek:
It has its good points (reduced cruising RPM from 3,900 to 3,100) and its bad points (adds about 50#).

Lastly, do you have any pics of the griffin radiator install? What fans? Don't mean to steal the thread, your website just brought up some questions for me. What a great job you've done with the car!
Thanks! No real pictures. The Griffen is a true "LT1" specific radiator, with all the connections and support points in the stock location. It fit fine in the bottom support, but when I added the WS6 style ram air box, I had to cut down the top radiator support, since the Griffen was holding it up too high. We actually ended up mounting the top support into the top of the radiator. The thickness isn't a problem, because I deleted the A/C condensor. Just added some weatherstripping to seal the radiator shroud. Stock fans.

Thanks. Good info. Guess you went with the $500+ griffin... I'm trying to get by with the $200 generic and it's probably going to be a pain...