The aftermarket as we know it doesn't exist much in Europe and not at all in Japan, thus European manufacturers supply parts for much longer periods. In Japan vehicles pretty much have to be scrapped when they reach a certain age; registration and insurance fees increase substantially making it uneconomical for a person to keep an old vehicle on the road. They must pass yearly and increasingly stringent safety and emissions inspections. Engines must be replaced at 5 years regardless. Keeps the manufacturers happy...

I owned a few Mercedes in the past that were over 25 - 30 years old. I had no trouble finding OEM parts from the Mercedes dealer and a local German car part distributor. The parts were no more expensive than for a GM or Ford. OTOH Toyota parts are expensive!


~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

"Yes, I checked around the Motorcraft battery has been discontinued. It's the trend at Ford to discontinue things on a lot of late model parts. I have a 2002 Excursion and a lot of Excursion specific parts are discontinued especially a lot of critical electrical parts."

Legally, manufacturers are obligated to supply service parts for 10 years after end of production of a given model. After that it's up to the aftermarket. The aftermarket looks at vehicle populations and decides which to support. As the population diminishes they adjust their parts production until a threshold is passed, then production ceases. Then it's the obsolete parts sellers or salvage parts unless and until a model achieves classic status and the classic/antique parts suppliers step in. Pure economics.

Yes, I checked around the Motorcraft battery has been discontinued. It's the trend at Ford to discontinue things on a lot of late model parts. I have a 2002 Excursion and a lot of Excursion specific parts are discontinued especially a lot of critical electrical parts.
I found a supplier of a Centennial batteries in Portland OR that has three of them. I've never heard of the brand but they offer a 1yr replacement / 30 mo prorated warranty. Only $100.76 plus core.


~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

I believe the batteries are listed as commercial is because they are part of the dual battery system in the diesel equipped E-350 Ford vans. The NAPA I have now replaced one I bought from Powertron 8 years ago but they no longer stock it. This sounds weird but the large diesel needed 2 batteries, the 29NF was all the would fit on one of the sides, and was not the same size or number the other one. 

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

I checked around late winter or early spring for the Ford battery and if I remember correctly found that it was not available anymore.  Any one have any info additional on this?

A bought a Ford battery two or three batteries ago and they had it down as a commercial battery


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

This would be the best deal. I've had Motorcraft batteries before and I got many years use from them. I'll have to call around. There aren't many Ford dealers left nearby. If that doesn't work out, then Interstate or then the others down the list.


~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

Any decent battery today will cost you $150 and lucky if they last 3 years, they aren't made like they use to be. Even my favorite Interstate 29 is made in Mexico. My last one died right at 3 years and being a commercial battery they only have a one year warranty. I went to the Interstate distribution warehouse that is close to me and they didn't have them in stock and didn't know when they would get more, Covid slow down. The guy showed me a group 50 that is the same size as the 29 but more heavy duty so I bought it but it was $200. I just had to make a small trim on the case to get the hold down bolt to clear.

Group 29 as a practical matter today is mostly a size or dimensions spec many batteries available now in various group sizes will meet the ampere hour (Or CCA in modern parlance), assuming cost is a concern. The modern group 29 batteries don't look much like the OEM or factory units, so for most people it doesn't matter. If you live somewhere it gets cold some additional CCA might be welcome. So long as the battery will physically fit you'll be in good shape. Generator equipped electrical systems need plenty of reserve minute capacity, CCAs isn't necessarily the only consideration. New Castle used to offer exact reproduction conventional batteries shipped "dry charged", these were excellent. A period correct battery really adds something to a restoration.

You can still buy them at Ford (motorcraft) and I paid $90.00 (approx) last year