late 36, hot wire, break in advice

[34hardhead]

I have been putting together a 1936 frame, I think it is ready to fire up for a test run, I DO NOT want to damage the nice coil that came with the car. I have it spinning over by the battery and starter button, should I RUN ANOTHER wire with a kill switch from the positive side of the battery to the coil terminal?
now I have the positive side of the battery grounding at the u joint cover, negative side going to the starter button to the starter.
how does the condenser attach? should it ground to the distributor mount bolt, and does it need to be connected to anything to test run the engine.
see the pictures, please advise on hot wire wiring to the coil and condenser.
Thanks Robbie

[JSeery]

I would run the wire with the kill switch to the coil. Don't leave it on for very long without the ballast resistor connected (if you are using an original style coil). Fairly short periods of time are OK. The condenser would connect up as it normally would. Not totally sure I understand the condenser question, but yes it has to be connected and yes it has to be grounded. Any ground that is connected to the other parts of the engine would be fine, but the distributor mount is a good location.

[koates]

Hi there, I see you have the original 6 volt 1936 ford flat top coil. It needs to connect through the original ford under dash type resistor which lowers the 6 volt supply voltage to 4 1/2 volts which is the coils correct rating. Don't run without the resistor as coil would eventually overheat and contact points life will be compromised. I would also fit an inline fuseholder (10 amps) at the battery NEG terminal ahead of the ignition switch to protect the temporary wiring from any mishaps along its route. The original ford condenser is fitted into the rear of the Bakelite coil body and its earth tag is grounded by one of the distributor mounting bolts. Make sure the small metal thread screw is fitted through the side of the coil body into the threaded end of the condenser. Regards, Kevin.

[34hardhead]

sounds like a no-brainer to attach/bolt/ground the condenser to the engine with the large hole on the left side with the strap.
on the right side of the condenser there is a small screw, should there be a jumper wire to the coil, or should the connector on the coil just go to the battery

[JSeery]

The battery connects to one side of a coil the other side connects to the points/condenser/ground. It will look a little different on the early Ford arrangement with the coil attached to the distributor, but it all works the same. The connection between the coil and the points and condenser are inside the distributor and the condenser ground is on the outside.

The breaker points act like a switch and turn the current flow through the coil on and off. The condenser/capacitor conditions the spark output of the coil and reduces the current flow through the points. All the pieces have to be in place and connected correctly to function.

[JSeery]

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Here are a couple of diagrams that might help you see what is going on. These are different years and just line drawings of the concept.

The 1935 line drawings shows the battery connection to the coil. Then internal to the distributor the coil is connected to the points and the condenser. The points and condenser are in parallel and all three (two set of points and the condenser) connect to ground. The 1942 wiring diagram shows something similar to what you are needing for what you are calling "hot" wiring to test the engine. Again, a wire to the coil and then the coil connects to the points and condenser. See if any of this helps.

[flatheadmurre]

A quick test ballast is 2 6v 32cp bulbs in parallel.
If you have a short the bulbs just light up more and you see if the points work turning the engine over.