i was looking at Ricks First Generation's catalog and i see that it has a reproduction of the original Delco Battery, but it says "side posts for the late built 69's. Does anyone have any idea what my car would of came with side or top posts? Thanks

The side post battery came into service regularly about April of '69. I tried to order one of those "tar top" batteries last year and after about two months of not getting it, cancelled the order. I tried again last month and they no longer offer the side post version, too many problems. I saw a web site that said they were in the process of being re-designed.

TZ

oh well then i guess i won't be getting it after all, but "side post" would be what my car original came with then im assuming by your response? Have you ever dealt with Firewall Classics? im not sure that they offer the side post but i do know they offer top post

heavy duty battery was still top post, even after the side posts became standard battery.

so going with a heavy duty top post battery will be fine then? and further more can i get this at Ricks?

and further more whats the difference between the Maintenance Free and Heavy Duty one? other than the price

I would seriously consider a modern Delco with a Battery Topper. That's a cap that fits over the battery, with holes for the top posts. I originally bought a repro side mount, and never filled it. Everything I heard was that they were only good for a couple of seasons. I did not want that expense or hassle.The only apparant difference is the battery sides. The new Delco has reinforcement ribs on the outside, and the repop has a basketweave texture.

Battery Topper and the 84 month Delco costs about the same as a repop battery. If you are interested, go to batterytopper.com, or batterytoppers.com.

I am sure this will generate some discussion. Check out the original '69 Z/28 road test photos in the Jan '69 Hot Rod and Aug '69 Road Test. For reasons unknown Z/28s used a "reverse polarity" [aka Ford] battery, the - terminal on the RH side. The Road Test engine photo most clearly shows this.

The topper is made with the conventional post arrangement, + on the RH side, incorrect for a Z/28.

Well, I'll be.... I never noticed until you mentioned it, but your comments made me look. The AIM shows negative to the outside for top post, and negative to the inside for side mount. I bought my battery to match the topper.

The A.I.M. shows the (-) terminal outboard for both the V-8 side terminal battery and for the T-60 HD top-terminal battery; the only battery shown with the (-) terminal inboard is the standard battery with an L-6 engine. Check the lower left portion of the title block for the sheet's application. :)

Both actual photos taken in 1969 show different. The Road Test photo clearly shows the RH battery cable routed to the alternator bracket. The Hot Rod photo is not as clear but indicates the same thing.

These were different production cars photographed 6 months apart. The HRM car is a very early production unit as it has the '68 rear stripe layout. The Road Test car is a Daytona yellow/yellow houndstooth JL8 car produced no earlier than February 1969. The car became famous when Car Life tested it with a cross-ram.

This may have gone on earler than '69. There is a engine bay photo in some other magazine showing a '68 with cross-ram at the Tech Center. The battery is mounted backwards in the photo.

I appreciate what the AIM shows. But the photos do not lie.

Sounds logical - I went back and checked the V-8 battery sheet again, and the revision block shows "Redrawn & Redesigned per ECR 98181" on 1-5-69, indicating that the configuration and parts were different prior to that date than shown on the sheet illustration. Earlier cars apparently had a different arrangement, although the change could have taken place a month or more on either side of the revision date. :)

For those of you that have Jerry MacNeishs' 69 Camaro book there is an excellent original photo of a Z/28 reverse-polarity battery on page 120.

Thanks guys. This what I enjoy most about this site.:beers:

The reverse polarity style battery was also smaller in size than any reproduction battery now available. The standard top post battery on the early Z-28 was a Delco Y-55. The "Y" series batterys were between the one year guarantee "G" batterys and the heavy duty "R" series.