Also gives the coil a break..I think. I've seen coils get so hot, that gooey stuff comes out of them. I thought that was from running 12V all of the time.

I've seen lots of old cars where the ballast has been removed..I'm not sure what the requirements are, whether they are tied into the points or the coil.

eg.
http://www.vtr.org/maintain/ballast.html

I don't like to side with the "Triumph" people..on the risk of bringing the name "Steven" and term "econobox" back into our minds..But It appears I was right about the coils being the problem. So read the coil documentation before removing the ballast resistor.

Chris.