Avoided catastrophe today!
Testing and trying different things on the '79. Also took the rescue '78 for a run and it is running great, now! Finally, after swapping the coils on the '79 with no improvement at all, I took the TFIs out of the system (really easy - unplug two connectors, plug the coils back in where they were, and plug the condensers back in. Well, that did it! I think maybe the cheap Chinese TFIs are failing already. Also, they seem just too sensitive to any points bounce. If I ever try these again, I'll probably keep the condensers in and add a pull-up resistor. For now, it did a 45 mile loop without a hiccup.
While about three miles down the road, I reached down just to touch the left side cover to make sure it was secure - a habit I'm getting into. To my horror, I felt the badge flapping loose! Pulled over quickly and discovered it was only attached by one pin and a little glue on that pin keeping it from pulling out. Pulled it off the rest of the way and secured it in the glove box. I'll mount it with VHB tape later this week.