Technical Hunt distributor wiring question

I have one of the early 2 wire Joe Hunt distributors, the magneto look alike.
With only 2 wires it appears to be a simple installation, one goes to tacho and the other runs through the ballast resistor back to ignition. I have mine installed on an 8BA and it runs well but will only fire as I release the starter. I have good spark after cranking finishes but I appear to have a voltage drop during cranking. I'm no auto electrician and was thinking of running a wire from the starter solenoid to the distributor side of the ballast resistor to fix my voltage drop while cranking? But if I do that then the new wire will deliver 7 - 8 volts back to the starter solenoid continuously when the engine is running and that doesn't sound good. Any suggestions would be appreciated

 

There are some solenoids that have a terminal exactly for this purpose. 4 total, 2 for your heavy cables, 1 for the switch signal, and one that will temporarily send full battery voltage to the coil during cranking. I have one on mine.


RLFFRL

 

I have a Powermaster XS Torque starter motor with only the 2 terminals, one bringing power from battery and the other for the line from the starter terminal on the key.

 

then you definetly do not want to run a jumper wire from the ballast to that terminal or your starter will engage anytime the switch is in the run position, which is what i'm guessing you were afraid of might happen. Another option would be adding a relay to the start circuit that will send battery voltage to your coil during cranking then isolate it once your ignition switch goes from start to run. This would be your best and safest bet to fix your problem. ill sketch up a simple schmatic and post it.

 

Here's a super basic layout how I would add this wiring to send full voltage to the coil during cranking. The relay control coil side is tied into the starter terminal on the switch which will energize the relay during cranking to send fused battery voltage to the coil, bypassing the ballast resistor. Once the switch is released to the run position the relay will de-energize and the ignition coil will get its power from the ballast circuit only. If anyone sees a problem feel free to add your two cents.


RLFFRL

 

You could run a wire from your existing starter for that purpose, just wire a diode inline between starter and coil that will only let voltage pass to the coil, and not back flow to the starter.

 

That's what I did on my roadster. Starts and runs perfect now.

 

I think I'll give the diode a try. Sounds ideal.
Thanks.

 

I see the Distributor is rated at 2.5 amps, what size diode will work best in that application?