Clatter going into forward and reverse intermitten

Joel,
Don't worry about the dwell meter just yet. Set the point gap with the feeler gauge, see if the problem persists and then go after it with the meter.

I wouldn't worry about the coil ether. Many run the "high performance" coils on point sets. Do check to see if it needs the ballast resistor or not.

BTW, I'd leave the point set in the boat!! It's been debated many times but in my opinion, the EI conversions are a PITA and do nothing. Were you expecting a performance gain?

Btw Pete, what should the gap be with the feeler gauges? I was thinking I had read .018 somewhere?

Well I grabbed my spare distributor and had forgotten that it had the older style prestolite electronic ignition in it so hence, no plate 👎🏻, so I am currently searching to find one. In the meantime I have been making some different changes and I was actually able to get it to run and stay running....however what I did is certainly not a permanent solution but maybe explaining what I did may throw flags to one of you experts?? I advanced the timing to 13-14 btdc first off, then I have my drivers side mixture screw at 2 turns out and my passenger side out 2 1/4 turns. I am able to be at 650 in gear but idle in neutral is 850. It is pretty shaky but idles and doesn't die. When I get to WOT though it is popping so I'm not sure if that's because it's a bit advanced or what. Any input as always is appreciated. I'm certainly not planning to keep things this way I just figured I would try some different things while trying to located the parts to reinstall the points again.