87 hatch

if i got the bigget amp alternator i could find would i need a special battery or is a normal one fine?

angcobra

normal battery should be okay, alternator will only produce the power that is being used.

fats429

Yea you will be fine with you batt. but look at the specs on the alt befor you buy it , the big amppers dont make mutch power at 2000 RPM that is crusing speed . and with under drive pullies it is worse . I think the stock 80 ampper is fine they make most of the amps at or below 3000 rpm . and they can hold up at 6000 RPM , and will run most steros amp the big 160 amp 1 wire alts are for race cars that spinn 7000 to 8000 rpm wit out blowing the alt up you stock EEC-4 system has a rev limiter at 6250 RPM and the big race alt would just be a waist of money

If you realy need more amps try to get a alt that is for a truck or a RV . they are just like the stocker and make nost of their amps below 3000 rpm . the race alts are not reliable on the street an will more offten than not let you down . It does not matter standert or reverse spin they work in either direction .

FiveOhNo

use one from a same-year F-150? just wondering cause i was gonna look into a new alt. pretty soon. i've got underdrive pullies and everything just dims out in idle.

fats429

THE F-150 CAME WITH A 100 AMPER AS A OPTION UP GRADE SO LOOK OUT .

it is bigger than the mustang alt and wont fit in the stock bracket . the 80 & 60 ampper in the bronco to F-350 are the same as the one in the cars . The base line F- truck came with a 42 amp alt and is olny gool to run wippers , lights, iggy and the AM raido that came with the truck .

88PatrolCar

It does matter. If you spin it in reverse the fan on the front will not function properly causing the alt. to overheat. Also you alt will never over-charge nomatter what the rpm's are, this is all controled by the regulator.

Green5pt0

You can't go too big on an alternator, it will only make the power it needs to, but if you're drawing alot from a stereo, electric fan, etc they recomment you use higher capacity power cables to prevent a fire.
-Green5pt0