linderpat

I know there was a recent battery thread, but that thread dealt with later years batteries. Will an S4 or GTS battery work in an early car? How about one for an S? Anything special about the early model batteries? I need to get one, and am looking for guidance. The stores all list batteries for S4 and beyond.

upstate bob

Last year my ancient Diehard died. My replacement is 3/4 the size but works just dandy. I cut a chunk of thick urethane foam plastic to take up the empty space.
Upstate (NY) Bob, 79 5sp. -driven once so far this year. too busy being retired

dr bob

Later battery (group 48) is a few inches shorter than the group 49 that came in your car. The 49 is/was popular in a lot of similar-period Mercedes and VW cars, so they are generally available. Local Costco keeps the 49 on the shelf in Interstate flavor, but needs to special-order the 48. There's local Interstate distributor so that's pretty quick at least here.

drooman

yes 49 is the large, correct one for 1978. I think they call them H8 now.

VanD

If you have a Interstate Battery distributor in Pittsburgh, go there and get a 'blem'. It's a brand new battery with a cosmetic defect so sold without labels, 6 month warranty. In a 928 it sits in a box so who cares about that ? But...only $46 for H8 (at least in Rochester). On year 4 with one of mine and no sign of defeat yet....beats the $125-180 price tag...

77tony

^^^especially if you own 16 of them + your daily drivers T

linderpat

OK; so it's a size issue/box dimension issue only. Nothing with the guts - all the same?

Alan

Just get the right size - group 49 - then everything else is standardized to the degree that you don't need to
care.

Alan

The Deputy

The story of my life...

Brian.

linderpat

dr bob

^^ That's why I recommended the longer one. Better fit plus more cranking capacity.

linderpat

Got a group 49 - damn that's a heavy pig! Bought Bosch. Paid dearly, but don't have time to shop and run around to different places.

Kiwi'79

Any chance of a pic, or link to the battery you purchased Ed? I want to see if I can find something similar down here.

The battery I have is too tall and will not let me close the " battery hatch", really bugs me.

Cheers

linderpat

I'll snap a pic next time I'm in the garage. At first, it appeared too tall for the box, but then I jiggled it and it dropped down far enough to secure the lid. I have not fully set it yet, since I want to re-prime and paint the inside of the box.

Jadz928

I just picked up a couple 48's with higher crank amps. I find I have to move batteries around from time and this way it fits whatever 928.
Sometimes just the right size is preferred.