Morris Minor Owners Club

hi len,the car would start but when the ignition switch is returned to normal running eg coil powered through resistor the starter motor would still be connected to the coil and drag the 9 volts right down to nothing, it can be done but you would have to incorperate a relay to isolate the starter supply after cranking. hope this helps Graham

Most of the later Minis (from 1980?) have the ballast coil arrangement. But it's really not necessary. Connecting directly to the starter will do nothing - it only gets 9volts (or so) when cranking - which is the whole point of using a 9 volt coil, but it then pulls far too much current when the starter is NOT cranking - hence the need for a resistor in the coil supply when the starter is NOT cranking. This can either be a 'resistor wire' as on the Mini - or a fixed approx 1 ohm resistor - but make sure it can carry the current without overheating.