Original 1967 Autoilte battery

[Cobramax]

I found this battery in a '60s vintage Mercury station wagon in a junkyard a few years ago. The hood was stuck down due to collision damage so the battery was never removed. I was able to open the hood and extract the battery. Anyone know how to interpret the dates and other markings?

I sprayed the battery with Armorall to make the markings more apparent for photography, hence the white stuff ourtlining everything.

Any help would be appreciated.

Jim

[JD]

Great find, do you have photos of the ends, See attached, not just the top and side?

Also dimensions = HxWxD of the case - without the terminal posts.

[J_Speegle]

Very cool/lucky find!! Date, stampings  and all

Not sure I would have coated it with Armor-All but what is done is done.

Think the hand made stamping on the top is for warranty purposes. Casting date/year in the one circle on the side is pretty easy to figure out. Not sure at all about the other casting coding - its all related to the main case rather than the over all finished battery. Sure others know more on the subject

[557]

Unicorn......cool!!!

[PR]

Looks like production line to me

[BGlover67]

Top seems to be stenciled with April '67 and case shows March '67.  24F assembly line correct.  Very neat to see.

Jim sent me this pic also.  55 amp-66 Plates = 24F

[deathsled]

Great artifact. The stars were in proper alignment for that find. Can it be rebuilt somehow? Use the case and put new innards? Or is that even a good idea due to its rarity.

[Bob Gaines]

Top seems to be stenciled with April '67 and case shows March '67.  24F assembly line correct.  Very neat to see.

Jim sent me this pic also.  55 amp-66 Plates = 24F

That is not a stencil but a heat stamp. A metal iron stamp with the numbers was heated and the pressed into the battery case melting in the numbers and letters.  Assemblyline batteries are done that way. All of the 60's vintage assemblyline batteries I have ever seen were heat stamped in that way. I am not sure but suspect when the battery was completed and put into service it was date stamped in that way. The stamp on the bottom is when the case was cast.

[roddster]

  Fabulous find.  If you do a search, you'll run into the various ways to cut the bottom out to hide a new battery up inside.

[carlite65]

HOLY SHEEEET!!!! what a find!! treat it with utmost respect.

[Cobramax]

Here a some more photos of the Autolite 24F battery with measurements. The good news is the Armorall didn't do any harm to the battery. The white color was just what it looked like just after being sprayed on. I wiped it off after taking the photos and it looks just like it did when I started. You will see there is a crack in the case at one corner. The finish is dulled (even after Armorall) from sitting in the car in a junkyard for about 50 years....and the detail of the pattern is not as sharp as when new.

The measurements are approximately 6 3/4" x 8" x 10 3/4" (including the bottom flange).

More photos to follow.

Thanks to everyone for the information. Very helpful!

[Cobramax]

More photos without Armorall....  you can see that the finish in areas has suffered over the years. However, the top side seems to have faired the best over time.

The junkyard owner was quite surprised when I carried it in from the yard. He didn't think there were any batteries left in the cars. The yard has been there since at least the 50's.

[Blackcar]

Is it possible to put a value to such a find ?

[JD]

A bit blurred but from the Autolite battery brochure Brian G got and shared, this is the section with details on the "Original Equipment Line" spec's for the batteries.

[Bob Gaines]

A bit blurred but from the Autolite battery brochure Brian G got and shared, this is the section with details on the "Original Equipment Line" spec's for the batteries.

FYI the brochure is for OEM over the counter replacement batteries. Some of the information is relatable to the assemblyline batteries too. The over the counter replacement batteries had a slightly different top case appearance.  The one the OP showed a picture of is a assemblyline battery.   The type used in the 65-67 model year. It is the heavy duty higher capacity version. The red caps and ampere hour marking on the side denote it as such.They were meant to last barely through the warranty period IMO.