[njsteve]

I reached out to Enrico with photos of the C89 from the 75 brochure, along with photos of the mid 1970's Freedom battery, asking what battery did he recall was installed in his car when he picked it up at the dealership in August 1973. (He has a photographic memory). Lets see what he says....

[njsteve]

Well that was quick: Here is Rick's response:

"Do I remember? Damn Straight!!! The Rixter NEVER forgets anything, including, unfortunately even the ugly stuff.

The battery delivered in Samarkand was the one with the FLAT BLACK TOP. There was NO color of any type that was visible to the naked eye."


(FYI: Samarkand was what he named the car, which was the same name on his race boats)

[njsteve]

So there you have it!

Now can someone find me one of these please:

[RicksGTO]

here is one of the pics from the article I posted that appears to be the same battery in Steve's pic above in post #658 and the text below for reference in case the HR article disappears someday:

What Happened With The Delco X Maintenance-Free Battery?
Thanks to the research of John Sawruk and Rocky Rotella, we were able to determine that in model year ’71, Delco Remy introduced the Delco X maintenance-free battery, the C89, which was standard equipment only on the Grand Prix SJ, and as option 654 for Firebirds, LeMans, Catalina, Bonneville, and Grand Ville. Though it remained standard on the SJ, the option for other Pontiacs was cancelled twice due to limited availability; first in February 1971, returning as option 691 in June 1971, then cancelled again in October 1971. For the ’73 model year, it returned in most model lines. It’s not currently being reproduced.

[RicksGTO]

a good shot of the way it came out in '71....

[njsteve]

Here's what I posted in the "Impossible to Find Parts Wanted Section"

I am looking for an original (NOS, used, dead or alive) Delco X Energizer Maintenance Free battery. These were the optional maintenance free battery that were offered in Pontiacs from 1971 to 1975. In 1976 they were replaced by the red, white, and blue Delco Freedom Battery.

I need this for my 1973 Formula which came with it originally. No one reproduces this battery as it is just too obscure. Here's a couple photos combined from a 1971 and a 1975 brochure:

[johnta1]

I think sometime in early 73 they got the 'eye', previous ones didn't have it.

[njsteve]

Look what I just found. Early Christmas present from a member over at Yenko.net who collects old Delco stuff. It's an original display model (no internal plates).

While it is not year correct for the SD it would be for Gramma's '75. I have seen some of the factory stock appearing racers remove the bottoms and install a motorcycle-sized AGM battery inside and run them as a "decoy" battery.

[SD73]

Originally Posted by njsteve

Look what I just found. Early Christmas present from a member over at Yenko.net who collects old Delco stuff. It's an original display model (no internal plates).

While it is not year correct for the SD it would be for Gramma's '75. I have seen some of the factory stock appearing racers remove the bottoms and install a motorcycle-sized AGM battery inside and run them as a "decoy" battery.

Nice score! I'm with you looking for that hens tooth '73 one too, and I'd be happy to sport one of those for the long-term interim. In the MoPaR half of my hobby, the repro guys sell the MoPaR correct ones with the AGM's and most people are happy campers with their long lifes and maintenance free reliability.

[TTOP350]

I know not the same year stuff but another idea for you sneaky guys.
I took a original 92 battery, gutted it and installed it in my ever so slightly modded ;-) 89 formula 350.
The real battery is in the rear of the car and you can actually jumpstart the car from the fake battery because the original cables are hooked to it. Handy.

[njsteve]

What did you use for the "hidden" battery?

[TTOP350]

Just have a optima in the rear spare tire area of the car.

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by TTOP350

Just have a optima in the rear spare tire area of the car.

Oh, I thought you put one inside the case but it looks like you have an MSD there (photo is very small on my iphone) :-)

[TTOP350]

Pic is small anyway, yes MSD in the stock battery and the "weight" I moved to the rear. Gives a clean factory look. imo

[Held for Ransom]

Steve, did the car have the original battery cables?

[njsteve]

Yes it does.

[njsteve]

Today's 1108436 1B11 dated, 1973 SD455 starter update after Aluminum Chief added his car:

New tally is:

Scott's 10,000 mile White/red auto T/A: VIN 137XXX (mid June ship date)
FrankG's 42,000 mile green/white auto T/A: VIN 139XXX (late June ship date)
Flamed 10,000 miles red/white 4-speed T/A: VIN 141XXX (early July ship date)
My 19,000 mile white/tan auto Formula: VIN 142XXX (mid July ship date)
Alum Chief's 35,000 mile auto T/A: VIN 143xxx (mid July ship date)
Brother's 1,700 mile red/white auto T/A: VIN 144XXX (late July ship date)
PureSD's 31,000 mile Red/auto T/A: VIN 145XXX (early August ship date)

[njsteve]

The updated score sheet is now official!

Enrico and Lenora's car was upgraded to the Vintage Time Capsule award after the starter date code evidence was examined and accepted as the new norm. You have to get a minimum of 95% is all five benchmark categories to achieve the highest certification level.

The final score was 2923.74 out of a possible 3007.67 for a scaled score of 97.54%.

We got ten extra bonus points for having the original set of keys with the knockouts still intact. (Though I think they should add a new bonus point category for having the original owners intact at the judging!) :-)

The biggest deduction we still have, that is pretty much impossible to overcome, is the lack of the original C89 maintenance-free battery. We lost 33 points for that. Other deductions were for the one replacement '73 Firestone 500 tire (for the one that exploded in 1983) with a different 1973 date code than the others, and the new old stock distributor cap I had to find for the one that the museum caretaker threw out during the unecessary 1980's tune-up.

[Formulabruce]

Very cool Steve and grats!!

[Pepi]

Congrats Steve, way to investigate and push the starter date issue!!