Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications General Mods Performance Battery

I installed the yellow top just now. Once spring comes, I'll definitely redo the wirings because it's sitting really ghetto right now and I won't be surprised if the wiring insulation cracks after a while.

i heard that the red ones dont fit but i dont want the yellow under the hood. can i paint the yellow part red. are the 2 reds the same size. is one smaller, enough to fit and clear the hood?

-- GI Joes (NW chain) is selling the 800 CCA red for $110. Wait until it goes on sale and $100 takes it (as of May 2002)-- Bill

IIRC, isnt the yellow top a deep cycle? I didnt think it was a good choice for a main car battery.

I'll just add my thoughts here, IMHFO you don't need a yellow top and red tops aren't meant as starter battery's just for accessory loads i.e. car stereos. Go to walmart, buy a $30 battery with a 3 year free replacement garauntee, and then go buy yourself a KKM intake or something with the $100 you just saved. 2 uncles and 3 cousins of mine who've all dragraced, running 11 and 12 second cars, for years use walmart batteries exclusively, just becuase their cheap, unless you just want something yellow under your hood. Seriously though, no matter how much hp you got, it doesn't take any more juice to start the car.

The red top batteries are starter batteries, so are the orange, they are ment to take bursts of power draw and constant recharging. Yellow tops are meant for complete or extended discharge then quick recharge. One of the selling points of yellow tops is their guaranteed number of complete discharge/recharge cycles without altering the characteristics of the battery.

In order to get the battery to fit, I removed the thermal blankets from the old location and the plastic tray that sits below the battery, You need to mount the posts on the fire wall side of the engine bay and you should snuggle the battery as close to the water pump as possible to take advantage of the hump towards the center of the hood AND to allow for more air to come up from under the battery and the new found space between the battery and fuse box.

I spoke to my dealer when I was getting the battery and at the time I was looking at the yellow and red tops when I noticed that the posts were designed in a standard fashion so when my posts where on the far side of the battery, the positive post was where the negitive post should be and vice versa. The orange tops were the only version that came with the reversed pole design.

Once I had the pole thing figured out I found that the posts were located much further into the battery than the stock posts. I basically rebent the positive and negitive plates (which contain alot of positive and negitive leads each). The positive side required using a long bolt to supply power to the side mounted plate. See the pics above.

As for changing the color of the battery there is an aftermarket as well as Optima supplied "dress-up" plates. Originally I wasn't thrilled by the orange top - I did like the black sides of the orange top- so I may get a dressier top this year.

If you need more info let me know I have all of the info sheets on the product lines.

Yep...that $30 Wally-Mart battery would be great in the trunk . I foresee no problems there . Liquid batteries also do really well holding their charge in sub-zero temps . No thanks....the extra hundred is cheap insurance, and I don't have to worry about venting battery vapor in my trunk.

i didn't know that ryan. thanks.