So the next installment of my "Operation Learn Everything the Hard Way" came in the form of distributor overhaul. Reading through the various timing/distributor/electronic ignition/ignition-coil-overheating threads, I determined that I had the late model Delco distributor with points. Despite the well-documented coil overheating issues that can arise with electronic ignition setups, I felt the benefits of a simplified ignition system with less moving parts seemed to outweigh the drawbacks and bought the Pertronix kit with the suggested higher resistance MMI ignition coil. (The only pictures I can find in my iPhoto album are of the pre EI install)
The Pertronix kit installed easily enough. While I had the distributor opened up, I thought the flyweights in the body of the distributor could benefit from some white lithium grease so I smeared a little bit on with my finger. I don't recall what, if any, thread prompted me to do that but I'm not even sure that's advisable. Unfortunately my ignorance when it came to all matters of ignition timing and distributors may have manifested in a much more significant way later on. To be continued....