Weight distribution of '65-6 Chevy C10

[thelawdoc]

Chris, perhaps I misled you: I have the sheet steel and I will weld it up. I never said I know how to weld! The last time I welded was in high school. Shop teacher came in the next day with gray hair. I have a friend who has a small welder. We both have life insurance.

[ChrisDollins]

Hahaha awesome! I'm sure it will be fine (famous last words) lol! That was the last time I welded too, just don't have a welder or I would be trying as well. Never hurts to play around a little.

[thelawdoc]

Chris, I wish I was a welder. But I will manage a battery box. It won't be pretty, but I am good with an angle grinder and rattle cans of paint! Hey, ya gotta learn somewhere, no? My babe just has to be functional. Love is blind. Alden

[LVPhotos]

Ok so it's not a weight relocation, it's I need a "commercial" size battery. I found one that was 1 400 cca in a class 37...Durango size at 100lbs. I didn't get how such a small truck need a big battery til stereo, KCs , and race radio and sometimes a laptop was plugged in. I get the cold thing but you didn't specifi the off grid. I have done my fair share of destroying batteries in the dessert. My Suburban 454 eat batteries every 9 months and that was the "heat beater" 1100 cca. Optima has seen long storage on the 62 and air time in the Durango with long draws on the deep cycle. I personally won't cheap out on a battery or anything that keeps my trucks running.

[thelawdoc]

LVPhotos, well, for my starter battery, I am hoping that 700 cca be adequate to turn over even an extremely cold 250 engine. I have heard from many that 500 cca has done the job well enough. While I will have a small winch on her, I think a 700/900 cca/ca should be ok. Of course, I don't want to go cheap on my battery. But I have to draw the line somewhere. I like Optima. Everyone does, I suppose. But I have to look for the most bang for the buck here. The battery vendors seem to give the best value in lead acid batteries that are somewhat larger than the common size. At least that is what I see at the auto parts store near me. They have a battery that is about 150 cca higher, and a couple inches larger, than the regular battery, but like $60 cheaper. I do not remember right now exactly how much, but that is my general recollection. I found the store cheaper than ordering one online. Hey, in any event, I do not see any problems whatever battery I take. The more pressing concern is having the battery as warm as I can get it on morning start-up in winter. I have seen heating pads that draw about 100w of power which is not much of a problem to obtain off-grid. Ditto re the oil pan. Right now, at this stage of my planning, I am going with 2 heating pads, 100w each, which, in a pinch, I will get from the deep cycle battery, along with a blanket over the engine bay. I will, of course, report back with my experience once I have the experience. There is but a dearth of information about all this online. Not for lack of guys doing anything. Rather, I suppose that they simply do not report about it in forums. Or I am not coming upon such forums. -Alden

[66Submarine]

Not sure where you are looking, but you can get a standard size (group 24) 700CCA battery for $100 from walmart.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart-...ttery/28275656

I have a lot of trouble believing anyone is going to sell a new 700CCA battery for only $40...

[thelawdoc]

66Submarine, thank you. Yes, that is a good one. And I have a Walmart less than one hour from my place in Maine. BTW, I meant that I found a $60 price difference with regard to battery size at Advance, not that I found a battery for $60. Please excuse my lack of clarity. 66, it is always nice when you come in and give your word. Alden

[66Submarine]

Originally Posted by thelawdoc

66Submarine, thank you. Yes, that is a good one. And I have a Walmart less than one hour from my place in Maine. BTW, I meant that I found a $60 price difference with regard to battery size at Advance, not that I found a battery for $60. Please excuse my lack of clarity. 66, it is always nice when you come in and give your word. Alden

Thanks, no problem.

BTW, I knew what you meant; I was just kidding around about the $40 battery thing.

[88copperhead]

Hey Summit has the optima on sale this month. The dual post is 150. With the coupons they sometimes give I got one for about 125. look up on their website. Good luck on project

[thelawdoc]

66Submarine, Hey, you can kid around all you want. Just remember that it is you and this forum that is building my truck. All I do is read, take notes, order parts, and put them on. Remember 'painting with numbers?' The only thing I use my brain for is to find people like you and this forum. Then I use my brain to follow directions, pay attention to detail, and check my work. In the end, I have a picasso. Maybe someday I will be able to 'give back' to the next aspiring, amateur, mechanic. God bless you. Alden

[PGSigns]

For the colder weather keeping the battery in the engine compartment has its advantages. It will be the place in the truck besides the interior that is the warmest and the warmer the battery the better it will do. Can also ad a battery blanket to keep it warmer. The big load on the starter in the winter is the engine oil thickening up and being much harder to pump. Using a 5W30 or a 0W30 in the winter will reduce this load a great deal. My small block truck has started just fine at 3 degrees with a standard battery and 10W30 oil.
Jimmy
Jimmy

[thelawdoc]

88copperhead, Thank you for responding. It may very well be that Optima makes the best batteries. I will, however, never know because I will not use one. That is because over the last several years I have been reading what I consider to be too many negative reviews about them written by individuals that I trust. Oh, I know that it is not common to get a defective battery from Optima. And I know that anyone can end up with a defective battery no matter what brand they go with. But I have been poisoned, so to speak, against Optima. I am also turned off by salesmen who push Optima by telling me that 'brand X' lead acid is no good, without offering any sound and verifiable bases for their remarks. I may not be an experienced auto mechanic, but I am no bannana either. I have gotten 7 years from starting batteries. I think I have a better than rudimentary understanding of lead acid batteries. I might try Optima if they offer a really nice warranty. I might. Trust is important. Lead acid batteries have never disappointed me over some 40 years. Maybe I am lucky. And if I am lucky, why change? -Alden

[thelawdoc]

Jimmy, yes, you are absolutely correct. Though I speak about the battery a lot, I am, actually, more concerned about the oil on starting. But both deserve attention in very cold climate. The temps in Labrador rival those on Pluto. It will be a learning experience for me to say the least. I am trying to stay within a limit of about 200-250w heating for both oil pan and battery, for a 3-4 hour duration, just prior to starting her up on those insanely cold days. Synthetic oil. Blanket. I think that should do for a 250 I6. Alden

[LVPhotos]

We run Optima in everything from overkill stereos, boats, race cars, prerunner desert trucks. Tube buggies hydraulic pumps and so on. Never had issues. So if you can run over 100 mph in over 100 degree heat and fly over 100 feet and land on dirt and that Optima still not get your attention. Then check some stereo magazines or a diesel one. My point is there is a lot more positive than a few negative Web jabs. Goto a local show or race see what the locals are running. I still think you over killing what it would take to start. My deep cycle yellow top would be more than plenty. Besides dry cells have no liquid to freeze.

[LVPhotos]

Here is my CRX when I was in Northern Japan. Standard battery and 10w30 Castoroil GTX. No problems with a battery that looked like it belonged on a motorcycle. That is about the same parallel as Washington state so about the same winters. The Durango is gone but no inner fenders and survived an Iowa freeze and some cold Utah nights. Several offroad racing video shoots as well.

[thelawdoc]

LVPhotos, thank you. Nice photos. Seems like you are in the 'power' or 'performance' category. I am with the Beverly Hillbillies. I am not disagreeing with you in any real way about batteries that come from reputable brands. And Optima is a reputable brand, no doubt about that. But for my needs, I should be just fine with a beefy Delco or Interstate, etc. I think my needs come down to keeping the electrical system in good shape, which, together with an engine that is maintained, does the most good for any battery. I would certainly agree with you that many online reviews of many items are not entirely in good faith or are not entirely based on sound fundamentals. Both of us likely know people who, finding their battery dead one morning, simply swap it out without ever giving a thought as to why it went dead. I think 99.99% of the time, the battery went dead through no fault of its own. But it gets cussed out. Anyway, while I am somewhat frugal about the battery itself, I do have a few foibles that I might admit. For example, I like those 8mm and 10mm fancy, candy colored, silicone plug wires. I know I don't need them. But I want them. Just like that. They improve my driving skills. Then, I like my battery positive-to-starter-to-junction cable to be fat. My friends correct me and say, 'obese.' (I got that cable no charge.) Improves my driving skills, too, lol. Or, when I am stressed out from the evening news, I can sit and do up wire connections 'by the book' even if I spend like 15 minutes on each connection. And don't even ask how much dielectric grease I can go through in a year! I cannot know where my truck will end up when I go to the happy trucking grounds. But whoever gets it is going to look at it and wonder about its previous owner just as I got it and found myself scratching my head over some things the previous owne did -or did not, do. Happy truckin' LV. -Alden

[PGSigns]

When making you battery choice remember that there are three major battery manufactures in the US that make 99% of the car batteries. Johnson Controls, EnergySYS and East Penn. Odyssey, Optima and Braile make mostly all AGM batteries and are small players in the overall market. In the drag cars we used Odyssey and then Braile (555 ci and 14 to 1 compression) with very good power in a small package. I use Braile in both my Harleys and both engines are over 10 to 1 and run about 180 psi on a compression check. Some new school may serve you well. 250 watts at 12 volts is about 21 amps of load for three or 4 hours, you will need a very big battery for off grid and a big alternator for several hours to put that back in.
Jimmy

[thelawdoc]

Jimmy, yep, got to keep the deep cycle charged if I want it for the next morning. I would not be using the truck's alternator for that one. The deep cycle will be recharged via solar and wind, and in a pinch, a generator. There is also a new mobile wind generator that mounts on the truck which I am likely going to spring for. Have heard good things about it. I do not like using an alternator to charge a deep cycle battery. I think it taxes the alternator wiring just too much. Unless something has really changed with alternators, I think I would let the alternator tend to the starter battery and constrain the charging of the deep cycle battery to the other methods. I prefer to use a Home Depot generator, if necessary, before my truck's alternator. As well, at both the Maine and Labrador properties, we will have a pretty ample battery bank. I am aware, though, that there are now "smart charger regulators" that are said to permit charging the truck's d.c. with the truck's alternator. I have not had time to check them out yet. I cannot go with just any new-fangled gadget. But redundency is a friend for those who live as I do. -Alden