Pulled my '56 Monterey out of the barn last night, started up fine.  Went to pull 'er back in this morning and it won't start, no spark.Points are fine, cleaned up coil wires and made sure those were fine.  Found this thing next to the coil, not sure what it is, but the positive lead from the coil goes to it.  Some type of resistor of some sort?  There's two springamathings coming down and one is definitely broken. 


The broken left one is REALLY hot.  Coil says 12V on it but I'm only reading about 6.8V on the positive side.

Yes. 

It's an ignition resistor - designed to reduce power to the  coil and the points.  Looks like your has expired.  readily available from the parts suppliers.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

They're not expensive...I would get two and keep one in the glove box...just in case.  

What's a good source for Y-block parts?  Most of what I'm finding on Ebay is $50-$80

It all depends on what you're looking for. I've seen good deals on eBay and Craiglist, but I've also seen sellers asking outrageous prices on those sites. If you're looking for a specific part, you might start here.

Looks like Autozone's website sells an MSD for $18...Amazon would probably be a good place to check, too.  
If you can't find one that is specific to your car then find out how many Ohms your car's is supposed to be and just look for one that's the same.