Alternator near death?

first check all of your connections.

I recently fixed my body ground and battery posts on my car, no system, but I still noticed an improvement.

All I did was undo the connections, I wire brushed inside the threads, bolt, ring terminals and the top-post clamps and posts.  I didn't scuff the paint around the body ground point because I live in NH and the road salt is harsh in the winter, it grounds fine through the threads.

I just bought some di-elecetric grease, it was $7 at autozone, kind of pricey for my taste, but it comes in a nifty can with some spout thing on it. The purpose here is to maintain a good connection, keeping air/moisture/corrosion away from the bare metal contacts.  It looks like vasaline, but it's much better for electrical connections than vasaline, di-electric grease is the right stuff to use.

Upgrade those crappy wires if you haven't already, those are just as important to the amplifier power as the cables you already have connecting to the amp. I recently saw a show vehicle with regular 4 awg connecting the batt-engine-body, that would work just as good as any automotive wire, the only thing I would do is cover it with wire loom and tape up the connectors.

I don't know how much you are already running, but an additional 1000 watts is asking alot. Forget the cap for now, you definitly need and alternator with more amps output than what you have now, a cap won't make any difference if your power source isn't up to the task. Replace your battery if it is old, forget the sears special, go straight to something nice like an Optima or similar type.

wow promo.....your sig really sums it up!  (not for this thread, just in general)

 1 awg has nothing to do with the poor connection between your engine and the body and....running a ground all the way to your battery? That can't be good.....

Please, read up and wire your system properly, you will be glad you did!  

If you shop around, you can get decent deals on soft strand cable. I've seen 1/0 for $2.29 per foot.  It's much easier to work with.   

True, if the resistance is actually lower through a wire, then it will work just as good and it won't let in noise.

Think about it....at car shows, people with high power systems bring 12v into the car via a thick cable pair and usually attach it to a heavy duty plug at the battery. The same plugs that forklift battery chargers use. This never seems to cause any problems.

axonal, I still think you have a weak point between your alternator + terminal and batt + terminal, engine-body-battery - terminal.