ugly573600,
An acceptable voltage after the ballast resistor would be around 9 volts. The original question was why is your ballast resistor heating up and smoking.
If the only item on the coil side of the ballast resistor is the coil, it shouldn't smoke or heat up.
Are there other wires on the coil side of the resistor? There should be a wire coming off a small post on the starter the ties in either at the load side of the resistor, or sometimes, at the + of the coil.
This wire must not go to ground when the key is in RUN.
The resistance value of the ballast resistor will probably be the same for any GM 12 volt rig..it isn't cubic inch dependent.
This is a super simple wiring arrangement, and should work flawlessly with only a single ballast resistor. Something is being overlooked.
We are on your side!
Stuart
