Jebbysan

Kinda important.......it actually helps transfer heat to the distributor base......your module may be heating up.....

My friend....why don't you just stick a new distributor in it?
They are dirt cheap nowadays.......eliminate that variable all together and move on.....
$80 will buy the whole unit now.......just pass up on that steak dinner with your partner

Jebby

jimvette999

Yes...often confused...di-electric would be worse than nothing....Radio Shack sells heat sink paste if there's a store near you....most are closed.

1978BackToLife

Can't thank you all enough for the slew of good advice. These are all great points and I'm going to be diving head first into it this weekend, checking them all off one at a time.

ted13b

How about the electrical connector at the distributor? That would explain the new problems when you changed the module....maybe an intermittent connectivity issue?

zuendler

As many others for me it looks like a major electrical supply problem.
Something shorts the main ignition circuit.

Try to feed the distributor directly from the alternator or battery just for a test drive.
(You wont be able to shut the engine down, you´ll have to disconnect the wire)

1978BackToLife

Wanted to close out this thread and thank everyone for the advice.

There was a loose connection in the distributor that was very difficult to see, and I began disassembling and removing wires which helped reveal it.

usmilret

If you are truly stumped then I have a suggestion. Remove the ground cable from the engine to the body and clean it, reinstall. Same for the battery to body ground cable.
Ground wiring and ground terminals tend to corrode. You can also check the ground terminals with a multimeter set on resistance. If the resistance reads anything above .02 Ohms then I would take off the terminal, clean and reassemble. Verify with the multimeter.