What the heck is a pick up coil??? I know what the coil is but never heard of a pick up coil and why would it be $485.00?!?

It is inside the distributor.

$485 is outrageous.

 

Find a used disty for $50 or so.

Will any year of/from an EA81 work?

Yes,pretty much any year.

There are some small differences in the vacuum advance etc.,but,they are inconsequential.

 

However,you should be aware that there are 2 different distributor manufacturers for the ea-81s.(Hitachi and Nippon-denso)It has been suggested that the ignition coil should match the disty as the primary winding resistances(and therefore current draws) are different.

 

Hitachi disty w/hitachi coil etc.

 

Since you mention a pick-up coil,yours should be Nippon-Denso.(2wd IIRC)

The Hitachis have "ignition modules."(4wd IIRC)

These terms get used interchangibly,so it pays to check.

Pretty sure you can use a carbed ea-82 disty as well by cutting off the extra mounting tab and swapping on the ea-81 drive gear.