This is to follow up John�s excellent article, last month, on batteries for your LBC.

My experience has steered me to think highly of Optima batteries. We use them in all of our boats and some of the generators at my work. The regular starting batteries (red top) are used in: a 3.9 liter diesel generator, a 2.3 liter diesel generator, a 25� Whaler with two 150 hp V6 outboards, two 22� Whalers with two 100 hp V4 outboards, a 18� fake whaler with a 100 hp outboard, and two 12� rubber boats with 15 hp outboards. We are on our second set of batteries in all of the above boats. The first ones were replaced at the end of their 72 month warranty period. Some of these boats sit for long periods without being started, but must start when needed. All the first set of batteries were all good when we replaced them

My personal use of Optimas include: �71 MGB, �79 MGB, �80 BMW 528i, �66 Land Rover, �80 Ford mini-truck, �76 TR-7. Some of these batteries have been in these vehicles more than 7 years. None of above 18 batteries has ever failed.

Ok, enough commercial, let me try to simplify some battery terminology, uses, and pitfalls. The general types of batteries are: starting, deep cycle, marine starting, and marine deep cycle.

Starting batteries are commonly used in personal automobiles. They are adequate for vehicles that don�t have a lot of accessories: high power stereos, several driving and/or fog lights, winches or any other high current accessories.

Deep Cycle are for vehicles that do have the above accessories that repeatedly discharge the battery and reduce the nominal voltage (12.6) 25% or more.

Marine batteries, starting and deep cycle, are built to stand greater vibration and have terminal posts with wing nuts on top.

So, why not use marine deep cycles in our little british cars? My opinion, the cost and reduced warranty out weigh the benefits. All of the Optima line (Exide sells a remarkably similar battery) are fairly pricey, starting at about $130 for their red top starting battery, with a 72 month warranty. The yellow top deep cycles are about $180 and zero warranty. Marine, blue tops are even more expensive and have a 24 month warranty.

All the Optimas I�ve used are red top starting batteries. Notice, we don�t use marine batteries in our boats at my work.

There are some other advantages of Optima�s and their ilk (high power, sealed, spiral cell, encapsulated electrolyte). High on my list, is that they don�t leak or vent acid. They won�t make your battery compartment disappear. There is zero maintenance. This is great for MGB owners, where getting to the battery is a major project. 

Optimas are a group 34, 10� L, 6.8� W, 7.8� H, and will fit in a MGB battery well, which was designed for a tall six-volt battery. You might have to spread the well slightly with a scissors or hydraulic jack. They should fit any area designed for a 12 volt battery.

Even through these are zero maintenance, one lesson I�ve learned from the diesel submariners I work with, keep the battery clean; it will discharge through the dirt otherwise.

A few other battery tips. Never, ever use the clamp-on battery cable terminal connectors, use the solder on type, or replace the entire cable. The dissimilar metals in the clamp-ons guarantees a very short life. If replacing the entire cable consider up grading to a thicker cable, a lot of British cars used undersized battery cables, probably to reduce cost. Use a hold down device of some type to keep the battery where it belongs.

Hope this helps or at least starts some lively discussions. Steve G.