Hi,
can someone measure how far the positive and the negative battery cables stick into the battery box going up to the battery? 68 - 72 behind the seat.
i do not have a battery yet , and i am installing new cables under the car and need to know how much slack i need to reach the connections on the battery.
Thanks in advance,
Joe   

well, personally i would give myself a few if not 6-10 inches of slack, enough to lay the cables outside the battery box, just incase(especially when you install and remove the battery you would have enough slack to get the cables out of the way, instead of them getting pinched along the sides and under the battery... kinda irritating sometimes;).  Given that your car is a '68 it should be a top post battery, and hopefully you are going to stay with a top post(the side post is just a hassle to get the connectors on, with the little space between the battery and the box wall...   a group size 24 battery should have been the original size for that car, and its 8.75 inches tall to the top of the post.... and that would be the taller of the batteries that would fit into the box... the other group size is a group 34, which is shorter in hieght, roughly 1 inch shorter...

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StingrayJim
NCM Lifetime Member #1936

Stingray's '76���������������������������� StingrayJr's '78���������������������������Lil Red '94

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Hi Joe, I only have the younger variety to measure from. The '78s use a side post batt. and the cables enter that chamber from the console side, the negative cable in from the floor and to the rear of the chamber apprx. 14" to base of batt. mount on the cable. The positive cable runs along the console and enters the chamber from the front wall (half way up), close to the neg. and travels around the corner under the neg. cable and toward the drivers side to the positive connection about 20" total. Hope that helps. both cables are pretty tight and makes installing and removing a little tricky. Don't know how much slack you'd really have room for though. 

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Jimmy B.
Just can't wait to get on the road again.

 
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I was told what battery would fit for my 68 from a battery store. I had measure my old battery and it was 8 1/2" tall which was a little too tall to close the compartment door without just closing them down on top of the posts. Go with the shorter height battery which will give you just the right amount of room. Your neg. cable is very short and just runs down and through the compartment to a ground on the frame.. the positive is a little long and a hassle because it does run through the compartment near the top side and goes along the trans tunnel and over to the starter. 

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hey, thanks for that advice about the shorter battery.
running the positive cable is easy, i have the body off the frame. i bought the 65 inch length cable.
can you take the measurement of your cable from the grommet on the box to the battery post on you car for both positive and negative cables?
thanks,
joe

 A little hard to measure the hot wire. But coming from the starter up into the transmission area, and near the crossmember and across to the left drivers side rear compartment and then through the grommet and to the battery and then allowing you to raise the battery 10" to get it out and then room to move it over to sit the battery down on the next compartment would be at least 8'6".  I would go 9' at the most if you want to take it out without taking the battery cable out. Other wise you could probably take off a 18" or more. 

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jim,
thanks for that info.
very helpful.
could you give me only the dimension of the cable lengths in the battery compartment only, grommet to battery terminals.
thanks for your help.
joe

grommet to hot post 9" and grommet to neg. post 1'.

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Sounds like Jim has his side post battery facing front.  I have mine facing the rear!.

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Richard,
thanks!
that was exactly what I was looking for! now I'll be able to tighten up the screws on the underside
thanks again,
Joe