if i had a bad alternator would that effect starting the car? im wondering if my plugs arent getting enough power to keep the car running. the alternator gets extremely hot. i am cranking the engine alot though trying to get it to start. i take breaks but its always pretty hot. what do you think.

Ben...I have no idea but I wish you luck. I'm kind of in the same boat...

The alt is getting hot just trying to start the car? Doesn't sound good. Disconnect the battery then the alt. Fully charge the battery and reconnect, leave alt disconnected. A good fully charged battery should start the car and keep it running for quite a while if you don't have any accessories turned on. That will at least tell you if the alt is causing a problem.

On a late model car the battery can actually cause the car not to start if it isn't supplying enough voltage to the distributor. On an older rod such as yours the car should start as long as it is getting enough current to turn it over fast enough. I've never heard of the alternator causing this problem on old or new vehicles.

If your altenator is over heating. . . it's too small for the load, or it's worn out.

its pretty new but ill try to bypass it and see if the battery will start it after its fully charged.
not sure if this is the problem, but i never noticed any of my alternators getting soo hot.
thought i was having ignition timing probs but i have checked and readjusted everything to make sure and still no start.

i had one try that it started up real slow and ran slow and ****ty for a few seconds so i tried giving it gas to keep it alive but it back fired on me. left my ears ringing. i figured i might not have installed the distributor with the engine at top dead center so i thats when i redid the whole ignition side.

turns out it was my spark plugs. i didnt think they looked too bad but with the new ones in it fired right up. thanks for the help and suggestions