Distributor, distributor drive gear / Timing

Im no expert but what i can do is offer a suggestion. one morning on my way to work, i was driving my 73 dart, it would not get up to speed as fast as it had been. got on the freeway and she started to pop, spit, and sputter just like you said. got off and took the street. petal to the floor going roughly 20mph. pulled into a public parking garage and struggled to climb the hill. parked in first spot i seen and she died. sat there for almost a month before i verified top dead center and seen where the rotar was in relation to plug wire 1. needless to say, my distributor skipped a couple teeth on the oil pump shaft gear (or what ever you wanna call it), throwing time off. the collar on the shaft below the dist body was plastic and missing. so the intermediate shaft allowed it and the drive gear to lift. either by me pulling the rotor a month earlier or just normal driving.

i would say, hoping all is well with the cam and crank, mark plug wire 1 on cap with a mark on the body, verify top dead center ( i did with my finger in the no. 1 plug hole to feel pressure, then used my wifes mazda antenna to watch for when it starts to move down, using a socket wrench on crank bolt.) dampener mark was at 0 on timing tab. pull dist cap and see where to plug wire 1. i went by the book and turned the drive gear so it points to front drivers manifold bolt. reinstalled dist with rotor pointed toward mark made on body. put it all back and see if she starts. if at TDC you don't see the dampener mark, it may have dried and slipped.