Question: Getting the most out of a stock looking ignition system.
Do they have an HEI system that will make use of the original distributor body and give a stock look under the hood?
I build HEI kits and have dealt with quite a few people on ignition systems.
If you want a stock look I would say you would be best going with the Pertronics conversion for the points distributor.
The HEI coils use an e-core design, so they don't look stock and so far I have never seen one that does so that may be a deal killer for you.
Pertronics is good, but the long term reliability is somewhat questionable from everything I have seen and you would have to order and wait for a new one if it died.
Have you considered putting the HEI coil under the dash, and running the pertronics unit inside the distributor?
It would still look stock except for the coil not being visible, and your coil wire passing through the firewall.
You HAVE to get away from the canister coil to have HEI, so you might want to just do what your original thought was and scrap the HEI idea, but use the Pertronics conversion for your factory distributor.
Even if the Pertronics unit dies and you have to get a new one, it's still better than having to mess with points.