There is a bearing at the top of the steering shaft (spindle bearing?). One part no. is 32-31-1-150-054, but there are two different bearings. One of them appears to be unique to the 02, but this one is common to later models. I don't have the part no. for the earlier version.
Your problem is due to either lack of spark or fuel. Given the symptoms, including the fact that you can smell fuel and are experiencing backfiring, this sounds more like an ignition problem. Have you checked for spark? Quick and dirty test is to pull a plug wire and almost ground it to the valve cover and to see if a spark will jump across a small gap.
Looks like you have a rev-limiter rotor. If you are not getting a spark, I would ditch that in favor of the simple rotor. Also, sad but true, Pertronix units have been know to die precipitously.
1. This is a lot of information to work through here. Presuming that your Pertronix Ignitor electronic distributor is installed correctlyh, do you have a so-called 1 wire GM distributor, or does it have connections on the back in addition to the B+ (from the battery) connection? The one-wire alt. only needs the +12V connecton from the battery and includes a self contained voltage regulator. Even if you don't have the one wire vesion, it is likely that your alt. has an internal voltage regulator, in which case you would need to hook at least your D+ (blue wire from wiring harness) to the alt to provide charging of the field coils in the alt. But, if you have the 1 wire alt you don't need any of the 02 circuits except a wire from the battery,
2. You don't want to have any wires from your ignition connected to any "always on" circuits from the battery, alternator or otherwise. Your ignition circuit should be provided with power from your ignition switch, so you can switch off your ignition when you want to. Don't know where those red wires in your pic come from, but they look way to large to be ignition circuit wires,
3. Basically, you need +12V into the coil from the ignition circuit and -12V into the coil (filtered through the distributor (whether points driven or magnetically triggered system like the Pertronix)) in order to fire the coil. Your statement: "black spark wire, black ground (from distributor to negative on coil), red positive (from distributor to positive on coil), green hot ignition wire (crimped to the red positive and attached to the positive on the coil)" is very hard to follow. You will need at minimum a +12V input into the coil and a negative trigger from your distributor. I think maybe your green wire may be a remnant from the ballast resistor/relay circuit from the original 02 wiring.
4. Here are a few questions for you. Does your tach work? Does the motor crank over at a normal speed when you try and start it? What kind of induction system are you running? Your problem sounds like more of a lack of fuel than a lack of ignition- ignition systems don't usually crap out after a few seconds of running, whereas lack of fuel can cause that exact problem. BTW, have you checked the charge state of your battery? A lead-acid battery should be close to 12.6V when fully charged.
Dielectric grease is electrically insulating and does not break down when high voltage is applied. It is often applied to electrical connectors, particularly those containing rubber gaskets, as a means of lubricating and sealing rubber portions of the connector without arcing.
Alright, I stole the above from Wikipedia, but it concisely answers the question. So, what it means is that dielectric grease is good for lubricating rubber or plastic connectors to keep the power (e.g., spark ignition) from leaking out of the connector, particularly when the connector gets wet. In a car, the ignition system is really the only place where high voltage is present, so putting this stuff on the spark plug boots is a good thing (clean the dirt off first). Dielectric grease is good for use on any rubber piece covering an electrical connection, because it will keep it soft and pliable, while not being conductive. There are other products sold as rubber or plastic conditioners that are based on petroleum products, which are not good to use around electrical connections, particularly high voltage.
