[CraigD]

Roland,

Thanks for the clarification and for the links. Not sure how, but I missed seeing the second reference in my search. I feel more comfortable about what to look for to replace the Marelli. The car is running great now, see below, so I will take a little time to find a reasonably priced Bosch replacement.

I reassembled my Marelli distributor after a good cleaning and lube. Set the dwell and timing and got in about an hour of driving. The dist shaft seems to have ever so slightly less play, probably the wheel bearing grease I used on the shaft rather that a permanent fix. Not really sure why but the dwell is virtually motionless now. Car accelerates well and reaches redline while still pulling. I came up with 2 possibilities though I am sure there are plenty of explanations. 1) I didn't really check the points before I took them apart and cleaned them up. Is it possible the points were hanging up and were the cause of the wandering dwell? 2) I replaced the slotted screws for holding the points with new longer phillips screws. I was just loosening up things to clean and inspect, I suppose its possible one or both of the screws wasn't tightened down sufficiently. Probably should have checked these things out first but I was convinced there was too much shaft play.