Hahaha that battery is hilarious. That got similar specs and performance to an OE battery then?
Hahaha that battery is hilarious. That got similar specs and performance to an OE battery then?
It does look a bit silly sitting where a normal big battery would be!
I don't know the figures, but I think it has roughly the same crank current output as a normal battery, but not as much capacity - as in it won't do as many starts without being recharged by the alternator. I asked a bit much of it to get my car going after months of inactivity, takes a fair bit of engine turning to get the mechanical fuel pump feeding the twin40s then. But after the car had been bought back to life the lithium battery was just fine. Not sure how well it would cope with a big block engine though. According to the instructions the battery should be disconnected when not in use, which is fine for me as the Nova is garaged anyway. It shouldn't drain at all when left unplugged unlike a normal battery which is useful.
Last edited by paul james; 23-03-16 at 06:13 PM.
Too late now but you can get the plastic fuel cradle/ball still! :-)
Where have you seen them?Originally Posted by slimtater
Are you sure that battery is beefy enough?? What amp/hours is it rated at? That's the important figure for being able to crank it over (more than once)
Specs for the battery are here:
http://www.varleyredtop.com/products_lithium.htm
I was a bit worried that I'd made an expensive misjudgement, but it can hande cranking the engine over multiple times as I've tried it. I bet it would be even better on an injection engine that actually always starts first time, unlike mine! It charges up from the alternator like a normal battery too.
Ideally under 'normal' operating conditions 14 a/h is needed.... well that's the rule I use!
Its taken me a month to do it, but I finally set about making a better bracket to hold the little battery in place.
Since the first attempt was incredibly wonky I raided my random bits of metal pile to start from scratch. It made a nice excuse for a little bit of welding practice.
I kept it pretty simple so it would use just the original threaded mount in the battery tray. I gave it a good spray with silver paint and some laquer to keep it tidy.
Then used some of the left over rubber stick on stuff I'd used on the petrol tank where the tank straps join on to fill the small gaps between the battery and the bracket for a nice snug vibration free fit.
I bought some good quality quick release battery clamps to make getting the battery out less of a hassle. I've only changed the negative clamp so far though. Don't be tempted by the cheap red and blue plastic covered quick release clamps on ebay, they are utterly useless and only fit for the bin, which is precisely where the ones I bought have now ended up.
Seeing as I'm so slow at progress with the car, and even at using it, it was a good test for the battery. I hadn't charged it in the month between driving it, nor started the car at all in that time. But it handled the neccessary multiple start attempts again with no problem. So I guess it makes the purchase a great success, expensive and a bit of hassle as theres no off the shelf battery support to buy unlike with the older racing batteries, but worth it. Oh and the new battery bracket weighs in at 350g, so now I've only saved 12.35 Kg over the old battery!
Last edited by paul james; 26-04-16 at 11:32 PM.
Personally I would use something to insulate the bracket.
you wouldn't want to short one of the terminals to it, especially the positive terminal with your spanner say, whilst taking it off or putting it on. Would give you a bit of a fright !
insulation tape ?
Good point, I may just put some more of the stick on rubber stuff on the top.
Next on the list of things to do, repaint the front bumper and see about chopping out some of the supporting metal inside it. Its a shame Mk1 fibreglass front bumpers aren't available as I'd go for that option if I could. I know I have a Mk2 bumper on the back, but putting a fibreglass GSi style one on the front would be a bit too odd looking I expect.
Also I might take the doors off, tidy them up and respray them too. I'm not 100% pleased with them as theres a small bit of rust showing through on the bottom of both. I do have two mint totally rust free doors taking up space in the house which I've had spare for years. I'm not sure if I'll bother using them though as it will probably be more work to do the total colour change required on them and then swapping all the bits over than just properly repairing the current ones.
Last edited by paul james; 27-04-16 at 08:51 PM.
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