Atomic 4 Smoking Ballast Resistor

Hey guys.
I've got an inboard atomic 4 that just quit on me one day when coming back in. My electrician friend said it wasn't getting any spark and we thought it was the coil that was fried. So I started by replacing the coil and all the wires and connections attached to it. This didn't work, but I was getting a weak spark. So I added a ballast resistor to the coil to increase the resistance to 3 ohms because it was running at 1.5. Now I've added the ballast resistor AND replaced the coil cable going to the distributor. The engine still won't start and now the ballast resistor is SMOKING. I can't figure out where I'm going wrong or what else could be wrong with the engine. Any suggestions?

First, replace the coil with one that has the resistor in it, second replace the wire from the coil (-) to the points again being very careful about the insulation, sounds like you've got a short, then check to make sure the points are opening to at least 25 thou.clean the contacts with emery to make sure they're not burnt, make sure the coil is clean in the mount. I once had a dented coil that made the extrenal resistor on a Chrysler 318 smoke. I later found out I had an intermitant short in the (-) wire between the coil and points. Maddening! Stick with it.