I exchanged the dist cap with the old one, and the vehicle ran a little
better, so I fought out the plugs on the drivers side and exchanged them
with the old set, now the van runs good!!!!!!!

I went back to autozone for some replacement parts...The little SOB at the
counter tells me I bought the wrong plugs....Well they SOLD me the plugs
the computer said were for the vehicle...And the dist. cap and plugs can't
be bad....I pulled a wire from the engine while running, and inserted the
new autolite plugs and NO spark...all the new defective plugs have no
indication of ever firing in the engine, is there that much of a difference
in platinum plugs from one manuf. to another? And why will the van run ok
with the old cap?  Well AUTOZONE won't have the right plugs until tuesday,
and I guess I'll go to an alternate source for a cap...What the HELL
happened to quality...... 4hrs of hell and blood to change plugs......and
now I have to do it all over again....makes me wanna throw my 77 dodge
tradesman back on the road....