hey everyone!
I recently picked up an 87 Tbird, just a plain jane 3.8 auto car, for use as a daily driver and as a car that may possibly morph into something a bit more... performance oriented. But for right now, im more or less focused on getting the car running and driving reliably.
The previous owner put a no name battery in it, it appears quite a few years old. and it definitely doesnt fit in the car. Whe i say "doesnt fit the car", i mean it hangs out of the battery tray, is not at all fastended down, and rubs against the alternator pulley at times as it slides back and forth. my guess is that its a group 58R, but as i said, no markings on it.
Now, im typically a truck guy, I have several old Fords, and living in Northeast Iowa, im used to having to have a large , extra cold cranking amp battery to get my trucks going in those frigid January mornings. I'm used to seeing a big ol Group 65 Battery. But, from what im finding, all that fits in this tray is a considerably smaller battery. So, im sure i'm notthe first person to ponder this, but has anyone swapped trays or anything of that sort to properly mount a larger battery?
Pretty sure I'm running a Group 65 in a stock Fox body tray right now...
I'll look in the morning...
And no, I haven't cut the tray and yes, it does fit properly.
The 2.3 & 5.0 cars have battery trays that will fit either a 58 or 65, I dunno about 3.8...
Motorcraft.
I would love to be running a 65 in this car. Im pretty sure that this car currently has a group 58 in it, and its defitely overflowing out of the tray. I'll snap a picture when i head over to the garage later tonight.
ok people. heres what i have found out.
theb attery that is sopposed to fit my tray is a group 56. super tiny, n o reserve capacity, and kinda super high priced. i'll pass.
The battery that someone put in the car is a group 96R. if i had a proper tray for it, it wouldnt be bad. but as it was sitting in there, it could easily side wherever and the case would rub up against the Alternator pulley. it has the scars to prove it. The battery is an 09, so that tells me its on it's last leg already.
i had a spare group 65 tray and group 65 battery, there is no amount of love or moeny that will make that battery fit in the opening i have. A 58R may work, but i would need to get my hnads on one to test fit. and once again, the tray issue.
its a poor picture with poor lighting, but here is my empty battery tray. I just got back from hosing the car down, so theres still water pooled up in it.
(http://i.imgur.com/TKNFxcd.jpg)
So, am i better off locating a battery tray for a 58R, or maybe a 96R, and seeing what fits? thoughts?
after looking at a few pictures, i see the issue. all the 5.0 and turbo 4 guys have the battery on the drivers side. that may be whats throwing some of your replies off.
look here:
https://www.jegs.com/Sizecharts/bcigroup.html?catargetid=230006180000852196&CAPCID=50248190471&cadevice=c&gclid=Cj0KEQiA39_BBRD0w-_rmOrc__8BEiQA-ETxXUG_0EWbu8GKyWZ55xrN5A_OdiGZ4I60AQsLDpPAiYUaAkbV8P8HAQ
I found that chart last night!!!
What i decided to end up doing was i bought a Group 58 battery, and i took a spare group 65 battery tray from a 94-ish Ford F150 ( i have several spares, usually i swap a group 65 into my older cars and trucks) and i have started to modify it to fit the Group 58 battery. i'll snap pics when i get more progress.
Im gonna build a new battery tray out of angle iron. Really not a fan of the "wedge" hold down. It lets the battery slide forwards too much.
Just an fyi, I used a battery tray out of a sn-95 mustang. The trays are all pretty much the same and bolt in the same way for all fox chassis cars. They are just on the wrong side on the 3.8's.
They are quite a bit more expensive, but I use the Optima batteries. They don't take up as much space, they last, and have plenty of cranking amps.
so, here's what i did...
First off, grabbed a group 58 battery. nabbed a battery tray from a 1993 F150, yes it fits a group 65, but pops taught me a few blacksmithing tricks.
(http://i.imgur.com/lc7MOxZ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/8M9oMZj.jpg)
and here's me bolting it in.
(http://i.imgur.com/G6Yhv67.jpg)
and i dropped the battery in!
(http://i.imgur.com/Vo0brCQ.jpg)
No more battery rubbing against the alternator issues!
(http://i.imgur.com/AJVwJ3q.jpg)
I did have to swap the positive cable end to accommodate the opposing posts on the battery, so i decided to upgrade as well.
(http://i.imgur.com/Xf6cVu6.jpg)