R79 Battery 1969-70

[Mr70]

The R79 E-5000 Battery is a very difficult if not impossible battery to find today..This is the first smooth top,side terminal battery with Delco eye sides that Chevrolet put next to a Big Block engine.Also known as the R79S,it saw very limited vehicle useage with a short production window beginning with April/May 1969 built vehicles,up into late 1970 assemblies,before being swiftly superceded by the R89 series for 1971 model production.
This battery is unique in that it has two different terminal sizes.
A 3/8” Positive & 5/16” Negative side terminals.
I can help anyone acquire a 5/16" terminal bolt if need be.
This was to prevent safety & crossing the cables,but turned out to be more trouble then it was worth and was not cost effective.The later R89 series that replaced it was released with both 3/8” terminals for this very reason.

This battery was just opened for the first time by me,in it’s original box and is still holding it’s original two sided warranty card with matching date,and original Delco Eye caps sealed in the bag.The battery itself is dry and has never had any electrolyte added to it ever.The top cover shows it’s assembly date still melted into it of July 30th,1969 from the Anderson,Indiana plant.

This was the Standard assembly line battery,replacing the R59 top post battery for the following vehicles:
-*1969 Camaro w/327-350-396-427cid engines built in late April early May 1969 at both Norwood & Van Nuys assembly plants to the end of overlapping model production. -*1970 Camaro w/350-402cid engines from beginning to near end of model production.

-*1969 Corvette w/350-427cid engines built in May 1969 to end of overlapping model production.
-*1970 Corvette w/350cid,up to and including serial #411000.

While talking to a few original owners,a few odd vehicles did receive this battery when they shouldn't have such as a limited number of 1970 L-34,L-78 & L-89 Chevelle/Elcaminos/Novas and LS-6 Chevelles.I believe it to be a miscommunication between assembler & manufacturer.
If you want to know if your vehicle came with this,one way this can be documented is by looking at box #49 of your buildsheet for R79,(sometimes included with an S),but understand this was not the recommended battery if the optional T-60 was checked off on those vehicles.That would have been the R79W side terminal battery.

The reproduction battery of this today is in all actuality, a 1971 released R89S which has slightly larger case dimensions with a recommended replacement decal attached to it’s top cover,then "R89" molded into the cases side..The date coding fonts the reproduction houses use today are not authentic or unique as the original style font was used back then.
The R89 series saw a much broader & longer period of vehicle useage well into the late 1970’s,so it is the more popular preferred battery to reproduce today.
The R79 series battery has never been reproduced due to it’s limited vehicle applications and brief time period of barely 14 months.
GM will not issue the license for it,nor will any manufacturerer pay for it based on these very same reasons.

It weighs 35lbs. dry & was rated at 61Ahr with 2900watts @ 0° F, and measures 10-1/8" long,7-15/16"high and 6-11/16' deep.This would be the crowning achievement to any vehicle that was originally built with one,either displayed in the trunk,or installed dry on it's battery tray.

I am asking $2000.00 [email protected]
Pictures to follow..