Original Style Battery Cables

[stope4]

I have been trying to purchase original style battery cables from all the vendors for a few weeks now without success. I went as far as purchasing the ones from LMC only to find out that they were not original style and are made in Taiwan. What has startled me about this search is I can't seem to find any of our sponsor vendors and others in this business who sells the correct style and length for the trucks. I have called M&H (who will make a pair if I send them my old pair), American Auto Wire, Lectric Limited, Brothers, MotherTruckers (who was very helpful by the way), LMC, Classic Parts, etc, etc,... I realize buying original style and color with correct end points is going to be a little expensive but I want the correct cables. Has anyone found a vendor who sells what I am looking for? Would you mind helping me out and giving a recommendation?

[tcb-1]

seems to me that a few months back someone posted on this same subject, but can't find it now.

you might try an automotive electrical shop. sometimes, they can make custom cables with the correct ends.

you may also try Classic Industries. for some reason, I believe I have seen them listed in thier catalog.

[71 super]

Car quest has the correct type but they are both black. My 4x4 still had the original + cable on it when I pulled it apart and it was black. The correct length for V 8 is 45 inches for positive and 25 inches for the negative. All of this is in reference to 71-72 trucks, there is a difference in the cables for 70 down aside from the ends.

[tcb-1]

good to know 71 super! thanks for posting.

[powell72]

Originally Posted by 71 super

Car quest has the correct type but they are both black. My 4x4 still had the original + cable on it when I pulled it apart and it was black. The correct length for V 8 is 45 inches for positive and 25 inches for the negative. All of this is in reference to 71-72 trucks, there is a difference in the cables for 70 down aside from the ends.

Harold, you are a wealth of knowledge!

[Longhorn Man]

don't forget, 71 and up are side post, 70 and older top post.

[72BlckButy]

Man... just when I'm pondering a question, someone else already asks.

Great info 71 super and LM!

[stope4]

All, thanks for the info. It's all very helpful.

I found these numbers on the cables themselves, 4664TRH and 4666TRP. This doesn't look like a GM part number but it could be a partial. Can anyone shed some light on this?

[71 super]

I will look and see if there are any numbers for reference on the set of cables I got of the BB- they are ac-delco replacements which have since been discontinued but the number may be of some help. I will also dig out the receipt for the 4x4 cables I got from Carquest and post the numbers for them as well. If you will pm me your email I will send some pictures of what the ones I have look like. Harold

[nyncompute]

I've seen exact replicas of battery cables for other chevys e.g. Chevelles, Camaros etc. I bet they use something of the same design with a different length. Couldn't one find out who makes them and see if they can alter the length?

[WIDESIDE72]

I scoured the wrecking yards and picked up every original cable (4 or 5 pairs total) I could find from every GM vehicle with a side post battery. I got lucky and I was able to match these to the cables (length) that are on my dad's 71 GMC. I also have a pair for my 72 GMC4x4 and 72 Chevy swb step. Unfortunately, i have no idea what they came off of. On the plus side, i only had to give $2-$3 each for the cables... Granted, they are used, but cleaned up and work good...

[chipflyer]

Good info Harold!

Jeff

[stope4]

I have to say at this moment what I have seen is pitiful. I cannot believe no one makes replacement battery cables that are replicas of the original. I know the parts houses make replicas of camaros, chevelles, GTOs. etc... Why not trucks. I bet we would be 50% of their businness.

[Longhorn Man]

I bet we would be 50% of their businness

We wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket of sales.
Hardly anyone restores a truck to that level. Heck, theres no standards to go by, no judged show for it, no 'certified' group to say it is 99 out of 100 or what ever.
The truth is, 99.999% of us, don't care if it has exact replicas of the cables. 1/2 the guys on here would rather have top post than side post, so right off the bat, 1/2 the guys will opt for the wrong cable... and not think twice about it.

[stope4]

Longhorn Man, what you are saying does make sense. Still, you would think someone would make the correct cable. Guess I'll just have to suck it up and use the ones I bought from LMC. At least it was made in Taiwan and not China. I know some would say there's no difference between these two but Taiwan has been making parts for 50 years, China only 10.

[70cst]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

We wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket of sales.
Hardly anyone restores a truck to that level. Heck, theres no standards to go by, no judged show for it, no 'certified' group to say it is 99 out of 100 or what ever.
The truth is, 99.999% of us, don't care if it has exact replicas of the cables. 1/2 the guys on here would rather have top post than side post, so right off the bat, 1/2 the guys will opt for the wrong cable... and not think twice about it.

Again...The Longhorn Man speaks truth. You are spot on.

[ChevLoRay]

A thought: Didn't the top post battery cables use spring terminals? That would be in comparison to the bolt-on top terminal cables we like.

It's just a question....

[davepl]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

We wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket of sales.
Hardly anyone restores a truck to that level. Heck, theres no standards to go by, no judged show for it, no 'certified' group to say it is 99 out of 100 or what ever.
The truth is, 99.999% of us, don't care if it has exact replicas of the cables. 1/2 the guys on here would rather have top post than side post, so right off the bat, 1/2 the guys will opt for the wrong cable... and not think twice about it.

Yup, but us Longhorn guys are the 0.001% I guess. I too am trying to figure out which style and and where they can be sourced.

[Lee H]

If you want the top post spring type end.......hit up the corvette web sites like paragon and zip. They have lots of these in varying lengths for early corvettes, not saying they have the cable you want, just giving you a possible source.

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by davepl

Yup, but us Longhorn guys are the 0.001% I guess. I too am trying to figure out which style and and where they can be sourced.

Another thread from the past!

Dave, what year is your truck? I replaced the original cables on my 69 a few months ago and think I still have the originals. As noted above the 70 and older trucks had top terminal batteries. The ends were tightened with a bolt, and did not use the spring terminal type as suggested above. Both originals were black. The positive just had a slightly larger hole in the terminal to accommodate the larger positive post and the short fusible link to the junction box. Also, nothing was noted in this thread about the wire gauge. Mine were both 6 gauge, not 4. Most pictures folks post show the positive terminal toward the center. My battery has always had the positive toward the passenger fender and the negative cable and the fusible link are too short to mount the battery any other way. However, the side terminal batteries would have had the positive toward the center. If I can find the originals and if your truck requires the top post cables, I can post pics and measurements in a few days. Different lengths may have been used for A/C vs. non-A/C trucks. Mine are for an A/C truck.

[jabborabbo]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

Another thread from the past!

Dave, what year is your truck? I replaced the original cables on my 69 a few months ago and think I still have the originals. As noted above the 70 and older trucks had top terminal batteries. The ends were tightened with a bolt, and did not use the spring terminal type as suggested above. Both originals were black. The positive just had a slightly larger hole in the terminal to accommodate the larger positive post and the short fusible link to the junction box. Also, nothing was noted in this thread about the wire gauge. Mine were both 6 gauge, not 4. Most pictures folks post show the positive terminal toward the center. My battery has always had the positive toward the passenger fender and the negative cable and the fusible link are too short to mount the battery any other way. However, the side terminal batteries would have had the positive toward the center. If I can find the originals and if your truck requires the top post cables, I can post pics and measurements in a few days. Different lengths may have been used for A/C vs. non-A/C trucks. Mine are for an A/C truck.

If Dave passes on your positive cable with the fusible link and the length works out for a '67 GMC w/o A/C I'm interested in it.

Jerry

[davepl]

If they're the through-bolt style, then it looks like I still have my originals (or at least the negative, can't find the positive at the moment). They just don't look like new, even blasted and cleaned up (lead is soft, doesn't wear well for 40 years). So I'd like to upgrade them just for cosmetic purposes. I'm going to shell out $225 each for the repro Delco battery on both sides, so I'm not going to cheap out on the cable!

Mine's an AC truck as well, but it's a big-block. I think, but am not sure, that it's a different length.

If you look at the wiring diagrams in the assembly manual I believe six cylinder trucks got 6 gauge, V8s got 4. Also some size differences at the junction block I believe.

[davischevy]

I bought the cables with black ends then went to the salvage yard and found a red end cover and changed out the black positive cable end.

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by jabborabbo

If Dave passes on your positive cable with the fusible link and the length works out for a '67 GMC w/o A/C I'm interested in it.

Jerry

I'm keeping the cables and was just offering to post pictures. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by davepl

If they're the through-bolt style, then it looks like I still have my originals (or at least the negative, can't find the positive at the moment). They just don't look like new, even blasted and cleaned up (lead is soft, doesn't wear well for 40 years). So I'd like to upgrade them just for cosmetic purposes. I'm going to shell out $225 each for the repro Delco battery on both sides, so I'm not going to cheap out on the cable!

Mine's an AC truck as well, but it's a big-block. I think, but am not sure, that it's a different length.

If you look at the wiring diagrams in the assembly manual I believe six cylinder trucks got 6 gauge, V8s got 4. Also some size differences at the junction block I believe.

I assure you that mine were the originals and definitely 6 gauge with a 350. I'll clean mine up and take a closer look at the ends. Actually, the terminals on the 4 gauge cables I bought locally are not a whole lot different but probably would not pass NCRS style judging used in the Corvette world. I may have some pics of the new cable terminals if you'd like to see them. I could also get a picture in a couple days of the new and old cable terminals side by side. I did enlarge the hole in the positive cable a bit to make it look better when installed on the larger positive post.