Ohms and voltage are two completly different things...and the ballast resistor is used to control the voltage (actually reduce) the voltage to extend the life of the contact points. So you defenitely DO NEED a ballast resistor in the ignition circuit, either the internal kind which works best ot the original external type.
Unless you are into walking and want to change ignition points about every 100 miles....
As for the cheap coils there is a huge difference and you do get what you pay for...many of the cheap coils use aluminum windings (instead of copper) which creates high resistance when the coil get hot which translates to a weak spark which you will experience as a truck that will not start when the engine is hot. Battery is up engine cranks fine but engine will not start.
Next up the cheaper coils have a lot of trouble with carbon tracking up where the ignition coil wire attaches to the top of the tower. When that happens you experience a miss that you often blame on the points or condensor. You end up with an annoying miss from the ignition that you can never seem to find. Think of it as an electrical drip. it is often hidden until you open the hood up at night and see the electrical drip for yourself.
I have fixed hundreds of mallory ignitions over the years by installing the IC7 ignition coils with the internal ballast resistors. Dual points will make the problems associated with a cheap coil even more apparent.
So take it from one who has been there and done that... buy a good quality coil and be done with it. Your truck will thank you!!
Randy
