Hey 6pak, thanks for all the great information. After spending some hours chasing down all these possibilities I am very happy to report that she is up and running. It turns out the wire I had coming off the +side of the coil is only 5 1/2 volts so I got power from the blue yellow wire on the ballast, 12 volts, put it all back together and it started and ran. :clapping. I'm not sure the voltage was the difference maker because I didn't check the way the wires were hooked to the safety switch before I took it apart. :drunk. The coil may have been shorting out with the starter like you said.......but it's great now.
To answer your question idiot light.....yes it goes to the grey wire on the starter relay. So the light goes on while cranking and shuts off when started.
Thanks again 6pak and Psycho.......
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