Is a hipo distribtor/coil necessary?

So now you see that the factory stuff wasn't all that bad after all. If you are gapping your plugs to OEM specs, the factory hardware should be reliable. In fact the Mopar setup was really good, easily as good as GM HEI, or Duraspark. Mallory and MSD replacement distributors are nice because they are more easily adjustable, and not worn out like 30+ year old factory pieces may be. Unless you are looking to blow some cash, I would suggest running what you have now for a while.

Buy good wires.