Don - the resistor heats up and the open circuit shows up, a short would show a lot of smoke and sparks .... usually once a resistor goes it's gone, and it shows up by the engine starting fine, when the resistor is bypassed, and quitting as soon as you let off the starter and coil power needs to come from the resistor
and daddy, bypassing the resistor for a test run will not destroy the points - at worst running a piece of emery a few passes between them will fix up any carboning - the resistor is bypassed and the coil gets full voltage every time you start the engine .... don't understand folks claiming points are trouble, I've always had them on these old rigs and get lots of dependable life out of them, sometimes without even touch ups for long periods
Bill
From previous experience... 25 freeway miles each way and the points were too pitted to be filed down... after 50 miles. Your experience with points isn't uncommon. I drove 60k miles in 3 years with my first 59 gmc 6 and a points ignition. I understand how to set and gap them. In recent years imported points, condensors, caps, rotors, coils, plugs and wires have flooded the markets. The last set of points I installed a few years ago lasted only 2 weeks and 300 miles . After looking at the fried points and seeing the country of origin stamped on it, it was no big surprise. Chinesium does not have the same metalurgy as original equipment.
Under starting when the resistor is bypassed, the voltage going to the coil is reduced by the huge draw of the starter. True it won't hurt the points to bypass the resistor for a few seconds. It will absolutely destroy the points to drive with the resistor bypassed for any significant amount of time. I suggest to try bypassing [your] resistor for 50 miles before you give the advise that it will not hurt the points. I guarantee you will come up to the same conclusion. I'm not trying to start an argument here. I'm just passing on my experience when I did what was suggested. I made that mistake... once!
