<VV> 63 Spyder ignition

[NicolCS@aol.com]

<snip>Only received one reponse about puff of smoke  and burning smell from 
the 
balast resistor on my 63 Spyder.<unsnip>

I read Joes response to your inquiry and it seemed correct to me.  Why 
restate it?  Start your engine and measure the voltage at the coil.  It it's 
somewhere around 6 to 9 volts, that's the right ballpark. The reason your ballast 
resistor is a large ceramic block is so that it can tolerate very high heat 
without melting.  The resistor element is exposed, so any oil, dust, spyder eggs 
<ggg> or whatever will be fried when the ignition is turned on. (thus smoke and 
smell)

There is a remote chance that the direct feed (bypass) wire from the starter 
to the coil is shorted to ground.  This would cause excessive current and fry 
the resistor.  You can disconnect it at the coil and check its resistance vs. 
ground. (it's usually a yellow wire but I haven't verified this on a '63 
schematic)  If the resistance isn't "infinite" vs. ground, investigate the wire and 
solenoid.

Most likely though, it was simply something cooking on the resistor surface.
Craig Nicol