Thanks for your response, here goes mine...

First of all, is replacing the ignitor as easy as replacing the coil? It would be nice if it was cheaper also

As far as the distributer I don't really understand how that would affect the tach but more importantly it was replaced on this car about a year ago by the previous owner. I don't know for sure if the replacement distributor was used or new but she said it cost $1,100 for the part(s) and labor.

Anyway, today it seemed to work fine so I guess my first task will be to take a look under the cap and see if it looks ok and if the connections in that area look good, just as soon as I can borrow someone's garage(weather just started to really suck THIS week, great timing:bs