Thanks! Bought all the parts I need to refurb the distributor, sans condensor got loads of those around, from Filling Station store. They also had a reasonably priced HEI distributor conversion from a later GM, so I grabbed one of those too. Probably need a better coil if that works...
Sent Kenneth an email about the stud.
Any idea about that linkage or the dimensions it ought to be? Thinking might be easy to just weld a nut in to extend the reach a wee bit.