51 ohms is fine; it just sets the current into the shunt regulator.
To blow up that resistor you must have fed it way too much current, so the chances are good that something else was fried at the same time.
I see two choices:
1) you know the drill, check each transistor and LED for intact diode behavior - conducts one direction, not the other, base to emitter and base to collector for transistors. And of course measure the other resistors. I don't have a convenient test for the shunt regulator chip.
2) Spend a buck at Rat Shak for a 51 ohm resistor and give it the smoke test.