1986 Bronco II 2.9L idles rough and other strange problems

[Zero_Point]

Okay, so I own a 1986 BII Eddie Bauer with a 2.9LV6. It's given me loyal service up until recently: It started getting to the point where the engine would cut out at random while driving, almost as though someone just turned the engine off, then it would turn right back on again after a short moment, but sometimes it would just die and become a pain in the butt to start again. Resetting the computer fixed that problem temporarily, but just after resetting it would try and die when put into park, then after a few weeks it would stop doing that, then a week or two after that it woudl do the whole dying at random thing again. Anyway, more recently, it just died. Would not start, wasn't getting spark at all. Turns out that it was the ignition coil pick-up, which I took to a mechaninc to have replaced for fear of fubaring the timing (that and I couldn't reach the distributor hold-down bolt, it takes an act of God and Merlin to get to that dumb thing!). The mechanic put the pick-up in, and it starts, but it idles roughly (and at about half-idle) and you have to keep your foot on the gas or it will usually die after a short while. Am currently working on replacing the rotor, cap, and spark-plug wires, but am not sure if that will help, and I can't afford to take it to a shop again, not for a while at least, so any ideas?

[Truck]

Ignition coil. You're already doing the rest of the ignition system. What's another couple of bucks? (Junkyards permissable.)
Catalytic Convertor. (Or removal of same.)

[Zero_Point]

I've replaced the ignition coil twice now, and tested them both, and both were good. I'll take a look at the catalytic converter, but what should I be looking for?

[Truck]

With the cat specifically, mostly it's the smell. When you have to keep your foot on the gas pedal to keep it from idling out, usually the cat will be choking the motor. (The cats are designed to physically clog over time.) In the later stages, you can see the smoke pour out the back when you have the pedal down. It's not quite gray, not quite black.

It's a hefty fine to 'fix' a catalytic convertor by taking it off, and reaming the core out of it-but some 'unscrupulous' mechanics remove the clogging part (wire mesh and fill) an place the empty shell back onto the emissions system. When I took mine to the mechanic to have it fixed, he told me, "The one that's on there is empty." I didn't complain about it.