Well folks. She's running!
Not without some excitement though.
Here's what happened.
First I read and reread all your ideas and suggestions. The more I thought about it, the more I was unsure what voltage the system was. I do not claim to be electrically saavy. I woke up convinced that it must be a 12V, because of the cassette player, even though the battery I traded in (given to me as an extra) was definitely a 6V. I got the old battery out and looked for anything that said 12 or 6... nothing. (Yes, counting the cells would've worked, but it has a cover over them and it's a small battery so I had never doubted.) My first helper arrived with a voltage meter and I made my suggestion. He looked it over and we tested it and it read 6. At that point another helper and another meter arrived. This one read 12. We double checked with a 12v light bulb. Aha! But, I had tried starting it with this battery before with no luck. So we took the wires off the resistor and from the resister to the coil. We cleaned the resistor and all the connectors very well and reattached. Now that we were working with 12V we decided to try to jump it off another vehicle. This required rolling the truck back in the drive to allow access. We remove the bricks from under the wheels (parking brake doesn't work) and they push. I go to hit the brakes and NOTHING! Pedal goes right to the floor!. It's a short driveway with a slope down to the street. I try jamming it into gear and popping the clutch which works for a second, but it slips out of gear and I roll into traffic. I crank the wheel to miss the far lane...not easy with a non-running truck...heck not easy when it's running... and thanks to fate and timing, I don't hit anyone and no one hits me. We push it to the side and restart our hearts. Now it's in the street AND not running. With our fingers crossed we hook up the battery and the jumper cables and I press the petal. Vroom. Goes right off.
So, now it runs but doesn't stop. *sigh* It had brakes when I parked it! We tried filling the master cylinder but it seems to be leaking although there was nothing under the truck before this. I get no resistance from the pedal. That is until the next day when I'm demonstarting for yet another "expert" and suddenly I have a little. (demon truck).
Our consensus. While I am embarassed at the voltage mix-up, since three more experienced mechanics didn't figure it out, I'm a little less so. It seems to have been a combination of voltage and connections, since this battery had failed before. I still need to find the drainng culprit, but for now will pull the negative. (installing a shut off). I'm not entirely sure that rolling didn't help the whole process..it sure got us pumping!
So I'm on to brakes. Still can't drive it, but it sure feels better to sit in a running truck.
Thanks again for all your help. I'm still using your ideas to track the power drainage. Luckily the generator is working and the battery is charging.
PS. The cassette player doesn't work anyway.
