and had resistors between the uart conections of the atmega328 and a gtpa010 GPS module
Why did you have these resistors in place?
I noticed that the arduino would not receive serial inputs unless the resistor value was somewhat less than 1k ohm
Likely because the GPS isn't supplying enough current to overcome the resistors.
There are already resistors on the TX and RX pins. Adding more is not needed.
I connected a 3v3 wire to the serial input Rx of the arduino and it read 5.5ma for a current!
For your next experiment, will you be pounding the Arduino with a 25 pound sledge hammer?