battery cable, side or top terminals?

[Brett 21441]

Hey folks,

did the battery cables in a 71 have side terminals? Mine has top, has it been changed? Both the 73 and 76 I used to have had top mount terminals.

Brett

[GREG]

In 71, Eldorado had side the rest had top posts

[Mike #19861]

 1971 was the year GM switched to side terminal batteries. This was done for 2 reasons, first the lower hood lines that were anticipated and the better corrsion resistance of the side post battery.

  Mike

[Brett 21441]

Hey folks,

were my battery terminals changed over to aftermarket ones? They are the type of terminals that clamp down with two bolts on the wire. I will be replacing them and dont want to discard if they are the originals, though I doubt they are.

[Robert Koch 21150]

The posts that clamp on the wires are CHEAP but effective replacements for the originals, which were molded onto the end of the cable. If you arent planning to replace your battery any time soon take the old cables off and match them at any good auto parts store. Battery cables are quite generic although there is some variation. If you plan to replace the battery, take it and the cables and replace both with side terminals. Ive had top mount and side mounts and side mounts give much less trouble. Just be sure the terminals are tight.

[JIM CLC # 15000]

03-30-05
Mike, there was another reason.
I dont remember the year that the Chev. X/19 came on the market, but that car was shipped by rail and they could get more cars in the box-car by leaning the X/19 almost on its nose and the factory used the side mount battery for a reason that I cant remember, and knowing how the bean-counters think, they could get by with one battery style, thus save a lot.
Good Luck, Jim

[Lars Kneller 8246]

I may be wrong, but I thought in 72 the Eldos had side terminals, and the other cars did not, then in 73 they all had side terminals.