I need to get a new battery, so I might as well get the correct one now. Who sells the correct OEM style battery for show judging? I know in the Mopar hobby, I could get the correct 24 or 27 battery from Newcastle Battery. What battery should I ask for when ordering?

 

Antique auto battery
http://www.antiqueautobattery.com/ge...tml#Oldsmobile

 

I have never seemed to find a definitive answer on whether it was the R59, R71 or R89

 

R59 battery was the smaller battery. Olds used 2 size batteries and tray the 71 was the bigger and used the 12 inch battery tray the 59 was 10 inch I believe

 

It should be an R71 and I have bought several of them from restoration battery right there in Ohio.

 

Definitely R71 for big block Olds in 1970. Beware any reference to R59 in the vendor catalogs; that's for Chevys.

Antique Auto Battery in Hudson, Ohio, sells two kinds of reproduction R71. If you're a glutton for maintenance, they have an old-school lead-acid with removable caps that you have to keep checking and topping off. I prefer the sealed version they sell; it looks identical, but the caps are fixed in place. It lasts forever, in my experience. And it seems to hold a charge better than lead-acid even when not used.

 

My old 70 442 built in Fremont had R71 on the build sheet.

 

Thanks for the clarification and recommendations. This is (and has been for a very long time) on my wish list. Every time you clean something up under the hood the next item sticks out like a sore thumb. I'll be waiting for the latest battery to die first but I'm hoping I'll get a repo this time around

 

i might be wrong on the 70 A body, but I think even the 455 used the 10 inch tray not the 12 inch tray

 

Small block cars used the 10" tray and all 442 cars used the 12" tray.

Maintenance free battery is the way to go, while restoration battery does not recommend a battery tender on it I have had great success doing so and have at least one R71 that is north of 8 years old and still going strong.

 

I was wrong big battery tray(71s type) in 70 455 small tray in 350

 

Thanks for the awesome intel, guys! At $295, I might wait until the car is restored to jump on that. I think it's going to get a $100 Napa battery for now, as the $295 battery will be toast before the car is done.

 

Sometimes you can find the old delco batteries on ebay for 100 or 200 bucks new dry cell and you can get the acid at Napa

 

The R-59 Delco is the correct battery for the 71 Olds Cutlass with a 350.

 

Correct. - use the R71 for the 70 442. That's what I have in my car