Spark and Coil
Doc here,
imp:
In an ideal world, your Spark should be "Cold" blue. If your getting white spark, you have an unknown resistance or damage to some ignition component most likely.
You never said whether or not this is a "Points" type ignition, or an HEI, I am assuming Points because you sound like it has a redundant coil (not inside the cap like an HEI)
If in fact they are points, and you left the switch on, you'd have coil heat if it were not on a high spot on the lobe on the distributer. The points pose a load or kind of a short when closed, heating the coil. Over extended periods of time, this will damage the coil and/or Ballast resistor. This may be why the white spark.
You may want to replace the coil and ballast resistor.
As Far as wiring, What you want is the following,:
12 volt Power to one side of the toggle switch, The other side to the Ballast resistor. The other side of the ballast resistor to the coil.
(1) From the Starter Solenoid, you want to locate the terminal marked "I" on it. Run a wire from that terminal to the Ballast resistor where your 12 volts from your toggle comes in. This provides Secondary ignition during cranking cycles so that you don't lose or diminish spark during cranking .
(2) The push button starter should get it's power from your switch, (so it only gets power when the ignition is on, suggest you use a relay for this) the other side of the push button should go to the "Neutral Safety Switch" and out from there to a "Clutch Over ride" Switch (if Manual Transmission) Then Back to The Terminal on the Solenoid Marked "S". That's The whole Ball ~O~ wax!
If you use a Relay (because the solenoid Coil is a higher Current Device) hook it up like this:
(1) Locate The Relay coil and ground terminals. Hook either side to a good solid ground, the other to the toggle switch switched power.
(2) Locate the Normally open side of the relay, and the center wiper (movable contact) If the relay has a Normally open and Normally Closed side with center wiper, hook the Normally open side to 12 volts straight from the battery at the fusible link.This is to prevent the unused side of the relay contact (normally closed) from accidental short if something metallic comes in contact with the normally closed side after it's mounted.
(3) The Center wiper of the relay goes to the solenoid terminal marked "S"
That's all there is to it!
Be sure you have a ballast resistor or Resistance wire at the coil or coil heat and premature burned points will result, possible coil failure can also happen.In general, it will run like "crap in a can" as the points start to pit. So If you don't have one, you should install one.
Another Suggestion: If you don't already have one, Install a pilot lamp, or buzzer that lights when the toggle is on the "On " position, this will prevent future problems of leaving the switch on accidentally resulting in burned points or coil damage and dead battery's the next day. For the buzzer, you'd have to hook it to a relay, The coil will go to ground and power will hook at the field side of the alternator. The Normally Closed side of the contact will go to a fused 12 volt source that gets power when the toggle is on, The center wiper will go to the buzzer.
In this configuration, The relay will energize only when the engine is running pulling the contacts AWAY from the buzzer contact thus shutting off the buzzer after the engine starts. When you shut it off, The contacts close (no relay power) and the buzzer sounds.
Hope that helps you out!
Doc
imp:
PS: if your getting slow cranking, and everything else is OK, you may want to check the timing for an overadvance condition.