'90 Reynard Battery
Any suggestions on a better battery that can be used in the Reynard? I have a Panasonic Lc-X1220P 20A battery in my car now. But, if I stall engine, I have a hard time restarting engine with onboard battery. I do use an external battery at the grid. I need to check float level because carb may be flooding engine slightly making it more difficult to restart on the course.
Looks like the Odessey PC680 will fit the existing battery box in the car and will have a much stronger current. And it may be a few pounds lighter than the Panasonic.
As I recall, the PC680 won't quite fit in the retainer box on the 90SF without a touch of modification but it IS the better battery for that car.Originally Posted by jdp526
We used an 18 amp hour no name battery from a local store (cheap). With the MSD 6 it required 2 recharges a day to keep us going. With standard points it would last almost all weekend.
NOTE:
We used a big old standard car jump battery with the system wired for NO LOSS to the on board battery during starts. That left plenty of juice in the on board for track side starts in event of a stall.
CREW for Jeff 89 Reynard or Flag & Comm.
Points distributer
Don't know what type of ignition system you are using. My Swift had a points type distributer that had all the advance locked in statically. Made starting hot very difficult as it was at full advance. Fixed by getting a distributer that advanced the timing with RPM. Some of the engine builders used to do it this way, don't know if anyone still does.
Dixon was the builder that used to lock the advance on the distributor and then set total advance at like 38 degrees.
A total PIA. Sometimes doing cold starts, the engine would kick backwards.
I will order the Odyssey battery. My holder is slightly larger than the Panasonic so the PC680 should fit w/o any mods. The distributor I have just uses modified centrifigal weights for advancing timing, but I will go back and double-check timing, dwell, and float level. Car starts easily, I just dont have enough kick with the panasonic battery.
90 Reynard Battery
John,
We use a 18amp/hour battery, Yuasa, Panasonic, what ever fits, but like Frog said, if your dist. is locked, starts are more difficult. Take the cap off and see if the shaft twists when you turn the rotor. If so, you still have an advance mechanism. If not, that is the bigger problem.
Keith, the mechanical advance does work on this distributor.
90 Reynard
John,
I think most cars, when faced with a hot stall, will be slow to fire back up. If you have a poor starter gear to ring gear alignment, worn starter support (bellhousing) bushing, poor chassis to engine ground or small main battery cable(s), than a re-start can be an issue. In some cases, the starter motor when hot, cranks slow. Even my Super-vee, which used an off-the-shelf VW starter, could find issues when asked to re-start after a race, and this was a totally un-modified, pinion gear supported assembly from a VW Rabbit.
How old is your current battery? I use the same Panasonic in my autox FF1600 and do numerous hot starts and one or two cold starts during a typical autox day. I can tell when the battery is getting old by how fast it cranks. Very little "run time" of course compared to track racing. Car does get plenty hot on a summer day with 4 or 5 runs close together.
Dick
Other thing you want to do is, get one of those thermal blanket wraps for your starter. We used one and an 18 amp hour battery. Never had a hot start issue.
One of our distributors was a Dixon (locked at 39 degrees advance) and the other a standard centrifigal advance.
CREW for Jeff 89 Reynard or Flag & Comm.
Thanks for the suggestions and tips! Car turns over well as long as I have a jumper battery hooked up to it. The Panasonic battery was new but sat on my shelf for two years until I finished car so I dont know if they degrade without use.
Rick, I have some header wrap, do you think that would work as well for insulating the starter?
90 Reynard
John,
Maybe the wiring from the jumper battery to the starter, is better/larger or provides a better ground than the on-board system.
With the headers on the opposite side from the starter, I'm not quite sure why you would need to wrap it.
Take your Panasonic battery to an auto-parts store and have them load check it.
I don't know Keith. Just the heat from the block and the pretty well sealed engine compartment seemed to make the starter 'way' hot. So I put the insulator around it. Seemed to help.
CREW for Jeff 89 Reynard or Flag & Comm.
Funny story: Drove one of our cars to an autozone to get the battery load tested due to "symptoms" of impending battery failure. The battery failed the test AND wouldn't start the car even one more time. I was pretty sure the battery was about to die but not "that" sure.
Dick (FYI for my autox car I never use a jump battery)
starter wrap
Rick,
The main reason to wrap a starter (or battery), is to shield it from radiant heat, like from an exhaust header. Wrapping it with an insulating material, in an enclosed environment, while it is being heated up through conduction, not only doesn't help reduce the heat, but actually restricts it's ability to lose heat from any airflow that will be lower than that engine generated heat.
The logic of that is irrefutable. Don't know why I didn't see it that way. I'm getting too old.. sigh.
CREW for Jeff 89 Reynard or Flag & Comm.
New Battery
I installed the Odyssey PC680 today, and wow, it spins starter very fast. Much quicker than either jumper battery I have used. After engine is warmed up it starts immediately, within 2 seconds on the starter.
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