Getting a 1.8 to start on a bench, with the least amount of wiring possible.

I recently bought the engine out of an 86 cabriolet, and I'm currently trying to get it running. I'm not able to get spark though, so what exactly do I have to do to get the coil to operate properly and generate spark, with as little wiring as possible?

you need to put 12v to the +ve side and thats it, but be sure you have the tci unit and wiring all hooked up. the tci should have an earth back to the battery and if its a mk1 type be sure it is attached to its heatsink base from the metal bracket in scuttle otherwise it'll soon overheat and die