Replacing 1961 Series 2 Battery Leads

[geedeejay]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and Land Rover ownership in general, so hi!

I recently (read just then) started working on doing up my family's old Land Rover Series II. It has several issues currently, one of which is the battery leads are frayed at the terminal and not in the best shape along their line.

Is there any specific lead type or length I should be looking to purchase for replacing both the positive and negative leads?

[JDNSW]

No. Best bet is to remove the leads, and take them to Supercheap, Repco, or any other auto parts retailer and get ones the same length.

You are unlikely to find any with the original mushroom type connectors - but you really don't want them either!

If you want to get ones exactly the same for a "rivet counter" restoration, or if you can't find them exactly the right length, any auto electrician would be able to make them.

Bear in mind that originally it would have been positive earth, but you probably want to change to negative earth so you can use modern electronics or to convert to an alternator. So ensure you have battery clamps that can be used on either polarity.

Changing the polarity is easy, the only wiring change is to reverse the ammeter connections, and with the original generator, simply momentarily connect the battery to the generator, which will polarise the remnant magnetism in the generator.

John