Thanks for mentioning the resistor wire. I had forgotten about it. It has been a long time though since everything is electronic nowadays.
That resistor is mainly there to protect the ignition coil, for when the contact points are closed, to help save the primary coil from burning out.

Now you can go semi-modern and use a transistor ignition module with the points or with a sensor pickup (hall effect sensor for example).
Jerry Howell sells a nice transistor module, and many people have used it with success.
http://www.jerry-howell.com/IgnitionModules.html