charging/battery problem, '88 5kcstq

[auditude at neta.com]

You know, that sounds likely.  If I had an alternator problem, I 
might see problems while driving.  Or the alt light would come on.  
My headlights aren't yellow or anything (or blue either!).

A weak battery would tend to not hold a charge very well, right?  
Probably since it has just enough juice to start the car, it's not 
been a problem.

I have a battery from my Coupe GT that's been sitting for a couple 
years.  I haven't tended to it, so it's probably shot, right?

On the alternator thing, I'm not ready to spend the two C-notes Avi 
requires, although it sounds like a nice setup.  At this point, I don't 
have unusually high current demands, everything is stock.  I just 
want to eliminate the "slow charging" problem I hear our alternators 
have.  Apparently the voltage regulator can't step up the voltage 
high enough to catch the battery up, and it slowly messes it up.

I was leaning more towards this type of mod:

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4242/alternator_ext-reg.html

Has anyone done this?  It is certainly cost effective, if it works.

Ultimately, I will need more amps than the stock alternator, and it 
sounds like I'll be giving Avi a call.

What's a good stock size battery?  I don't know if it was here, 
probably was, but I remember a discussion about batteries, and 
that Johnson Controls makes good ones, if you know which 
consumer brands are them.  I heard WalMart used to carry them, 
but those are now made by Exide, or something.  What brands are 
good?  I would get an Optima, if I didn't prefer that it fit in the stock 
location.

I could use the battery from my donor car, but that's not home yet.

Thanks,

Ken

On 10 Jan 2001, at 23:53, Lawrence C Leung wrote:

> Personally, it sounds like your battery is kind of weak. You may need to
> replace it soon. As for alternators, instead of going through all of that
> conversion stuff, why not just get a 120 (?) amp unit from Avi Meron.
> Lots of listers have had excellent results from his upgrade, and not only
> is there no need to do any conversions, his price is very reasonable. 
> 
> LL - NY
> 
> On Wed, 10 Jan 2001 20:51:35 -0700 auditude at neta.com writes:
> >There's always more.  I was cleaning and conditioning my 
> >door panels and various other interior bits, and had the radio and 
> >some dome lights on.  After this and other times, when I go to start 
> >the car, it cranks very slowly, almost not starting the car.
> >
> >I know the stock voltage regulators suck, and I would like to try the 
> >
> >motorcraft external regulator conversion soon.  I have some Coupe 
> >GT alternators I could use in the meantime, or maybe just the regs. 
> > Will type 85 alternators work in a type 44?
> >
> >I'd like to replace the whole battery to engine compartment cable 
> >too.  Any pointers on this?  I'm looking at SJM's site on this 
> >matter.
> >
> >I've also got a corvette 120 amp alternator, has anyone gone non-
> >bosch on their cars?
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Ken
>