12V ‘35 Battery charged starter won’t turn over.

[AnthonyG]

I think I fried something! The last time I tried to turn it over after pulling the car in gear w another car to make sure I had turned the ring gear thinking it might still b the starter gear stuck! I realized the battery was going dead as dash lights dimmed & clicking slowed. Checked voltage @ about 11 volts. It’s a bit hard to get the charger cables into the car under the seat where the battery is. I decided this time to do that to make sure I got good contact with the battery before charging. I charged @ 40 amps for about 45 minutes & it went back to fast clicking, so I charged another 1 hour 15 minutes. I turned ignition on & no dash lites went on! Pushed the button to turn the over but nothing this time, no dash lites & no clicking. Check battery voltage @ 13 plus.
Thinking now fuse or Fusible link?

[cas3]

40 amps is a lot. Hope you didn't cook the battery!

[AnthonyG]

I decided it’s time for a new battery. While I probably over did the charge @ 40 amps for 2 hours charger indicated only 1/2 charged @ 1 hour, I think the 10 yrs old the battery was shot anyway! Seems like a time delay circuit breaker ( read in a post some where the ‘35 had one bimetallic time delay breaker) & must have protected lights & ignition circuits. Woke up this morning & while the battery was very weak the ignition dash lights & lights circuits worked.
So now what size battery do you guys suggest? 100 or 200 amp? I think the one I had was 100 amp & it lasted 10+ years

[ford38v8]

The bimetallic breaker you speak of was not a feature on Fords until 1940, and even then, protected the lighting circuits only, no other systems. Until 1940, the light circuits were protected with a fuse. Both of those protections were mounted high on the firewall above the steering shaft along with the ignition resistor. As you do now have a 12v system, those systems may have been bypassed anyway. The best battery by far is an Optima Red Top.