A GM HEI was never meant to run in an AMC motor..
the distributor drive gears are welded or pressed on to the GM shaft.. weakness..
DUI's are well known for being weak in the area...
AMC V8 motors are known for eating cam/distrib gears if not properly broken in / or matched..
on a stock motor the Duraspark and TFI (wide cap) distributor are more then enough juice to keep things spinning..
K.I.S.S
I mocked a 1988 Grand Wagoneer ignition.. essentially the same on the YJ.. so I knew what I was doing..
(distrib, coil, ignition mod)
Cap and rotor from 77-87 ish ford V8 (larger cap)
wires and plugs and DONE. off the shelf reliability
want me to get you a parts list.. I have in the office..
from my bookmarked notes:
"There's probably as much or more hype over coils than most any part of the ignition in the aftermarket. If it takes 30k volts to fire a spark across the plug gap, it doesn't matter if it's a 40k volt, 35k volt or 50k volt coil...it will put out 30k volts. The problem with voltage is if the plug gap is too big and it requires more volts to cross it, then a higher volt coil can do the job where a less coil capable can't. In a well tuned engine a super high voltage coil isn't needed as much as a coil with a fast saturation time."