Smoking ballast resistor ain't a good sign...huh?

I think it is normal for new ballasts to smoke for a while, even with the engine running normally. It is the same as dust smoking on the exhaust manifold (or home electric heater) if it has been sitting a while. There is a reason they put them in a ceramic package.

Do you have a post running about your "no start" problem? You will need a multimeter, in-line spark tester, alligator jumpers, and starter fluid for us to help much. Total cost ~$15 and useful for life on all your cars. I would spend maybe 30 min tops fooling with a points ignition before upgrading. If you have a 273 V-8, for $45 you can buy a new distributor w/ ignition module (ebay). If a slant, you must roll-your-own HEI, but easy to do with many posts. Points are a particular pain on a slant, down in the grub zone with little space.