picked up a Optima red top battery - Alternator ?

[68 & 00 GT]

for $60 through a hook up.

What do these battery normally run ?

Anyway are the red tops the lowest of the Optima line ? Yellow, etc...
How good are these ? I wanted my buddy to get me a good battery b/c I plan to upgrade to full MSD ingition, and run a nice big electric fan, and pretty much run the R134A Sanden a/c all the time. Will this do ? I don't want dim lights or anything anymore. Any pros / cons of this battery ?

Should I get a bigger / better alternator to go w/ it ? If so which one ?

Thanks -

 

[bnickel]

i'd upgrade to at least an 80 amp alternator, there are companies that make upgrade kits for the stock alternator, but you're best bet would be an internally regulated alternator like a later ford unit, or (puts on flame suit) a 75-up GM alternator which generally bolts right in place of an early ford unit, personally i'm eventually going switch to a late 80's-early 90's fox body style unit, if you clock it right it's hard to tell the difference between an earlier unit

 

[NorCal66]

Red tops are for more shorter duration high power while the yellow ones will last longer. Blue are marine I think? I think I remember hearing red tops are better for high performance applications and yellows are better for cars with big systems or that do a lot of driving.
Red top - "Perfect for all types of heavy duty street, off-road, and commercial applications"
Yellow top - "Perfect for hardcore racing, off-road or off-shore. Perfect for applications that frequently discharge the battery"

Definately get a bigger alternator. I don't know what the difference in price would be from an 80 to a 100 or so, but if it's not too much, the 100 wouldn't hurt. You may want to add a stereo or something in the future that would require a bigger alt.

 

[68 & 00 GT]

any suggestions for where to get a 80-100 amp alternator ?

do they require any modifications, or do they just hook right up ?

 

[NorCal66]

For a good price, look at summit or jeg's. www.paperformance.com makes good ones, but a bit more expensive.

Get a 1-wire, just hook it up to the positive battery terminal and you're good to go.

 

[cstang68]

I've been using the same redtop optima battery for 7 years. Never had a problem. Heck it's outlasted 3 of the 4 cars that i've used it in.

 

[68 & 00 GT]

great thanks guys

 

[taylor4g63]

I just bought a chrome, 1 wire, 100 amp (65 at idle, higher than 130 amp 3g units - they only put out 58 at idle), for $95 shipped to my door off ebay. I'll let yal know how that goes.