Well that distributor whack was the culprit when the clip came off. Intermediate shaft is worn out and bottom of the distributor gear. Put the cap 180 out and it moved to number 4 cylinder. Tower bushing and shaft and gear on the way.
The rotor and cap had an impact mark on them. I replaced them at the time and reset the timing. It retarded the timing ten degrees from the impact. I think it just took some time for that bushing to get out of tolerance where I was able to finally notice all these problems. Lesson learned about those clips. Check those castings on these old parts to see if the retaining bump that is cast in there is still there or good. I just took a punch and basically reformed the casting to hold the clip in place.
