Battery disguise case

[woodie49]

I am running an Optima battery, which I think is the best thing since sliced bread, but it is also uglier than my brother's pug dog (no offense to pugs anywhere).

Is anyone using one of the battery disguise cases, and if so, how does it look?

I know quail makes a full case one, and I have seen a few tar-top mimics that are the top and 3/4 cases (not sure why you would want the back open).

Darn things are kind of expensive - anyone have a good alternate?

[randroid]

woodie49,

I don't run an Optima battery but have long felt that should I ever get one I'd find an old dead battery and gut it from the bottom. The Optima could easily be connected internally with a couple solder joints and the cost would be next to nothing.

-Randy

[builtfercomfort]

I run my optima inside a boat battery box. Hides it, but does not disguise it.

[BobT-47P15]

Perhaps a nice floral toaster cover.....only $19.

[Arthur1947]

I'm happy with my Optima case and battery.

[woodie49]

woodie49,

I don't run an Optima battery but have long felt that should I ever get one I'd find an old dead battery and gut it from the bottom. The Optima could easily be connected internally with a couple solder joints and the cost would be next to nothing.

-Randy

This is an interesting idea. I have an old 6V that I could gut, but have always felt this would be an awful job. I have no idea what the inside of a battery looks like. Does anyone know, if you removed the bottom of a battery, would everything drop out? It seems like the terminals are attached in some fashion.

[woodie49]

Perhaps a nice floral toaster cover.....only $19.

Nice, but not really the look I am going for.

[woodie49]

I'm happy with my Optima case and battery.

Arthur,

Is this the Quail case or did you buy your battery from someplace like Restoration battery?

[jd52cranbrook]

What's wrong with a optima battery? Although mine is in my trunk, I would think one would get a appraising nod displaying it. Shows you know batteries.

Just my 3 cents

[Eneto-55]

This is an interesting idea. I have an old 6V that I could gut, but have always felt this would be an awful job. I have no idea what the inside of a battery looks like. Does anyone know, if you removed the bottom of a battery, would everything drop out? It seems like the terminals are attached in some fashion.

I have done this before, but not for a long time, and my purpose was to save the lead (for shotgun slugs), not the battery case.

Yes, the terminals are at the least tarred in, and you would have to break out the plates to get to the back of the terminals. (Assuming that you want to make some kind of internal connection from the service battery to the original battery terminals.) Or else you would need to break the bond between the terminals and the top of the battery, so that you could slide the old case over the service battery. I never tried to save the case of a battery, but I would think that a good approach would be to drill out the post and collapse it first, so that it would be free of the case material, then cut out the bottom and gut it.

It definately is a nasty business. You can try to rinse out the battery first, or try to neutralize the acid with baking soda, or some such, but the way a battery is constructed doesn't allow much actual circulation. It is chock full of screen-like plates made of lead (newer batteries use other materials, I've been told) with paper or cardboard insulators between each plate. By the time a battery has reached the end of its useful life, a lot of corrusion and corruption has taken place in there.

[Arthur1947]

Arthur,

Is this the Quail case or did you buy your battery from someplace like Restoration battery?

Quail case.

[woodie49]

Quail case.

Arthur,

Thanks for the input. That is a great looking engine compartment you have. Really clean and not too glossy on the black underhood paint.

[aero3113]

I just went in to Pep Boys today to buy some high temp paint for my boat engine and came across a battery display. All of the batteries that were on display were gutted to keep the weight down for the display. I'm sure other stores have them. Maybe you can talk to one of the workers and walk away with one of them for cheap .