No, I had not seen that post, but I did manage to figure it out on my own over the last hour or so. I figured the pertronix unit should function as points do, since that's their purpose in every application.
I did purchase a set of resistor wires, but they are incompatible with the distributor cap that I have. I did find a resistor wire from another vehicle, and I set that up to function temporarily as the lead between the distributor and the coil. I figure that should be close enough for testing purposes, but I'll order a compatible distributor cap so I can utilize the correct wires.
It started right up and ran, not great, but I took it for a ride anyway. It acted like it was skipping and running terrible.
Once I got back with it, I realized it was acting like it had a missing cylinder. I pulled the plug wires one at a time to see which was the offending cylinder. All had some contribution, but the rearmost cylinder on the left side had the least. For the heck of it, I pulled the front and rear spark plug on the left bank. Both appeared to be burning ok. Compression on both cylinders tested at 165. I have not tested the whole engine, but that's encouraging to say the least.
The important thing here, was that I knocked the vacuum line loose to the MAP sensor while working on trying to get the spark plug out. The end of the hose was in terrible condition, so I cut it a little shorter and reconnected. When I started the engine it seemed to be running smoothly.
...Actually, it turns out the car can do 100 in second gear...
Much improved!
I think the MAP sensor was my biggest issue. I'll sort through all the vacuum lines and replace as needed once I get the new distributor cap.
To answer your question about the coil, it's an Accel coil, I forget which one. I'm sure I probably bought it for some GM car that I had. As stated, the Bosch coil did not function well without the switchgear.
I put some resistors together to get around 8K ohms, the tach seems to be running a bit slowly, but I have yet to connect an external tach and check it.
At least now I feel like it'll be worth my time to put all of the new suspension parts on the car that I ordered. Earlier in the season I was wondering if I was going to need to think about trying to find an engine... and I hadn't really had any time to spend on it.
