yippy!!.. took a while but I got the clip off with out a hammer.

cleaned/oiled/spring swap/back together and pooched the plastic collar.

does the top piece need to be phased to the lower shaft?

I did not pay attention to it when I removed it. after a long while trying to remove the wire clip I was all giddy for a moment.

with the tip from Sheldon, I did some grinding on the lower plate where the arm from vac pod was rubbing.

I never knew how gummed up a dist gets down inside. this is a stock 1966-273 points dist that looks to never have been apart.