This is with a Crane XR-i electronic ignition pickup replacing the points. The module gets full 14.6 volts. Only the coil gets a voltage drop from the resistor.

I plan to try it anyway, once I get my HEI back up to snuff. I've always understood that the ballast resistor was only there to keep the points from burning up prematurely. I've even run points systems with full voltage and no resistor wires. I see no reason to reduce voltage to the coil, rotor, cap, plug wires, and plugs.

I'd love to hear anyone's input on this.

The resistor is there to prevent the coil from overheating. Measure your primary resistance across the pos and neg terminals, and if the value is in the 1.5 to 1.8 ohm range, you will have to retain the resistor wire or have a balast resistor. If the value is in the 1/2 ohm range then you can go straight to a full 12V source.

Chad, running full 14 volts to the coil wont hurt it initially, but it will run hotter and fail sooner.

Same with adapting a 6v to a 12v ignition system, you could run 12v through the 6v coil, but it sure wont last long.

All you're doing is creating a magnetic field (MF) inside the coil, depending on how long you're feeding that voltage into the coil (dwell time) is how strong the MF will be. Once the MF collapses, you get your spark to the plugs - so if you can pump a few more volts into the coil (voltage = electrical pressure) you can get a stronger MF, and more spark energy. But you also will create more heat, which is what kills coils.

I'm sure you all ready knew all of this Chad - I know how knowledgable you are about this stuff, I just figured I'd type it out for everyone else to read.

Yeah, Adam, I know a bit about these things, but I'm also known to occasionally overlook something obvious. That's why I ask questions that I think I already know the answer to.

Since the Blaster 2 is an oil filled coil, it will run cooler than the epoxy filled coils I've run in the HEI cap for so long.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything.

I jumped the resistor for a few minutes this morning and didn't notice any difference in idle performance, so I don't think doing away with the resistor is gonna help anything right now anyway.