[rmb_cobra]

I spent some time on the car yesterday. I believe I have eliminated the damper from the list. I pulled all the plugs, rotated the engine so #1 is TDC and the mark lined up exactly. I then pulled the distributor cap, and discovered the rotor was pointing about 15-20 degrees advanced to the #1 cylinder. Looked like it was installed at least a couple of teeth off, and then backed up to try and get it timed correctly. That's my guess.

The rotor was very pitted, the cap had quite a bit of pitting on the contacts. The advance weight pivot points looked real worn and sloppy, and the little springs looked kind of bent around. So, I am opting to replace the entire distributor assembly. The unit looked like it was 30 years old. When replacing, I hope to get it positioned correctly and then begin the timing process again.

Thanks for the help so far. Waiting for parts to arrive by mid week, then time to dive back in.