Looks like I'm working opposite of you. Got my GTS 383 fired up last week and broke in. Then I pulled the windshield since it was smashed from years ago. Thought I would just clean up the channel and replace all clips. But.... I dont like the paint on the dash frame. SO... Gonna pull the column and dash. See... Opposite You LOL.
Far as the jumper... I used Pertronix in my stock dist and , yes they did want me to bypass the ballast. What I did was Solder a 12ga wire behind it to keep it looking stock. It.s all in my build thread right below this.