All this time and it ends up being a bad module and coil in my brand new distributor. Replaced those 2 parts, put the carb back to "out of the box stock" and she's running like a dream!!!

Drove around for close to an hour today, mixed driving and conditions. She ran great. No problems at lights or stop signs, no problems at idle, no problems passing.

Think we need to pull some timing out of it now, hard starting when its hot. Already isolated the starter solenoid with a Ford one, so I know its not that. Battery is a new Optima and checks out. All battery cables are new and tight. Figured take out a degree or 2 and see how she reacts.