[Spridgets] Still no workie...

[Edward Perez]

So Rich Ball came over last night to bear witness to my hell.  After starting and warming up, when trying to bring the RPMs up, the engine cuts out.  I have replaced EVERYTHING except the coil (which should be tonite).  Rich hollered to his dad who is a mechanic and he suggested replacing the Lucas electronic distributor.  When I installed it, per the instructions, the wires went directly to the coil.  Rich's dad mentioned an "External amplifier" that is required for the Lucas ($400+ at MO$$ and VB).  He also mentioned some possible magnetic interference from the alternator.  

 I have a couple of questions...

1. does the Lucas electronic distributor REQUIRE the external amplifier on the 1275?  The car never had one before and it was running at one point (although  it was on 2.5 cylinders)
2. does anyone in the Seattle/Everett area have a spare distributor I could borrow to troubleshoot this?

things done so far:

Confirmed fuel pressure
Installed fuel regulator (Weber carb) and dialed to 3lbs (Holley regulator, not the junk one, BillL)
Replace fuel line
New distributor, cap, rotor, wires, plugs (gapped to .029)
New fuel filter
Timing was set (but it is questionable given the suspected distributor issue)
Carb rebuilt a couple of times (all jetting is per the manual)
Float level verified per the manual
And just about everything else!

I appreciate you guys!  Thanks to Rich for coming over to check my sanity.