TR2/3/3A TR3A Battery

[RonR]

Folks,

What is the recommended battery series and size for a TR 3A?

Yes, I hope to have this car started soon after 2 years of watching it sit in my garage.

Thanks,
Ron

 

[Geo Hahn]

I use a Group 24 (from WalMart) though there is room for a wider battery in that box.

 

[Lou Metelko]

TRA's guide give the group 27 as the original size. A sidescreen car looks good with that size since it fills the battery box very well.

Lou Metelko
Auburn, Indiana

 

[TR3driver]

TRA's guide give the group 27 as the original size.

Lou, does that mean that Triumphs deliverd in the US had US-spec batteries? Like so many other things, Lucas used a different set of standards back then. Plus the TR2-3 workshop manual lists two different sizes of battery ...

 

[Don Elliott]

My 1958 TR3A was delivered new to my S-T dealer in Montreal with a huge size 27 Lucas battery with a tar top and the links exposed. Just like the three replacements I bought over the past 20 years from Antique Battery Company in Hudson, Ohio.

See the last one taken in 2007.

 

[vettedog72]

If you have a nicely painted fire wall get a sealed OPTIMA. It will save you a heart ache or two. Get another "show" battery if you need it.

 

[Don Elliott]

Those "Show Batteries" like mine have been there for every-day use as well as for shows for 20 years. And I never had a plastic insert battery box like everone uses. These "Show Batteries" are like the original ones and are now available "sealed" in the latest info I have right from The Antique Battery Company.

 

[CJD]

Don, will the 27 case still fit with the plastic tray? Just curious...

John

 

[mrv8q]

I'm with Geo; Size 24 from Costco, which is a Johnson Controls battery...
(positive ground, too).

 

[martx-5]

If you have a nicely painted fire wall get a sealed OPTIMA. It will save you a heart ache or two. Get another "show" battery if you need it.

I became a big fan of AGM batteries (which is the same as the Optima) because of my experience with my '92 Miata. I changed the original AGM that was in the car in 2009.

 

[Geo Hahn]

I really like Don's battery -- but am probably too thrifty to go that route. The W*M version cost $39.77 (6 years ago).

I do not use the tray and haven't seen a problem so long as I have the control box properly adjusted. Thoughtfully STC provided that brass tag just above and behind the battery as a sacrificial indicator of over-charging.

 

[TFB]

I beleive my local WM is around $85-90 for a group 24.
Big jump in 6 years.
Tom