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In the picture where looking down @ the bushing, it looks like it is worn on the face. The intermediate shafts looks shiny under gear as if the two were rubbing together. May be just the picture though.

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The two should rub together - it's designed to be a wear surface.

That bushing has 2 functions:
(1) to keep the intermediate shaft centerline the correct distance from the cam centerline, so the gears tooth mesh is the correct depth.

(2) To support the intermediate shaft - the rotation of the cam, the pitch of the teeth, and the resistance of the oil pump push the intermediate shaft down onto the bushing.

If the bushing isn't seated fully - when the distributor is tightened down, it could force the intermediate shaft down onto the bushing with excessive pressure, and gall it before it has a chance to break in. It can also break the nylon(?) bushing at the bottom of the dist housing that keeps the dist shaft engaged into the intermediate shaft.

As to the spring seat insert damage. Single valve spring's inserts are usually only damaged by valve float letting the spring bounce around. With multiple springs, they get damaged by valve float, or because the multiple springs rotate in different directions when compressed, and require hardened seat inserts and retainers because of the resulting wear. Since VSI and other insert makers list specific hardened inserts for performance apps, I would guess that the stock ones are somewhat softer. I've seen inserts listed in catalogs as "copper" before, but it didn't specify if that was referring to color or material.