Replacing the PIP inside the distributor is not a particularly hard job, but you'll basically being pull the distributor completely apart and hoping that it comes apart for one, and that everything else inside it will be ready to roll. I recently had to completely replace a distributor in my Cobra because it was legit frozen to the block and I snapped it trying to get it out. To put it simply, gear comes off shaft, everything up top comes off, shaft comes out, PIP is hiding at the bottom of the dizzy. PIP alone from RockAuto looks to be around the $30 mark.
If you're slapping a dizzy in, OE replacements seem to be the best bet for our cars. I've seen more "performance" distributors cause more problems than a standard style replacement.
I've ran 3 of these on different cars at this point and have had good luck out of them:
I suspect this one from RockAuto for many dollars less is the same part:
Buying local gets it in your hands faster and also has a better warranty and easier swapping if there are problems later on down the road - but half price is hard to argue. I work for the big green so I'm biased, but that unit has served me well.
Avoid the reman'ds. There's not a huge price difference, but I've seen a few reman'd come back with some goofy problems that should have been caught before they were ever boxed up. Plus this new one with a cap/rotor comes out cheaper if you're slapping a cap/rotor on it as well.
Failing PIPs can cause some issues similar to what you're facing, but it's hard to really diagnose over a keyboard. Good luck with it.
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