Thanks papajam, that reply was excellent! Very useful information. I've attempted to recurve the marelli with a slight bit of success but I think the real solution is to just source the original alfa distributor with the correct curve for a euro-spec setup. Unfortunately these things seem to be pretty hard to find (understandably) in the US. I suppose another concievable setup would be the one from the later bosch injected spiders. I don't suppose you know the advance curve for those do you?
I think the reason these might work is that as I understand it, they are totally seperate (seperate ECU controller) from the fuel injection. I'm thinking all that would be needed besides the dizzy and coil off a junker would be the silver (or is it the black) box and assoc wiring. These would be easier to find in the US. Then again, perhaps the advance curve on those isn't a whole lot more useful than the marellis. They must be a more powerful /longer serviced overall setup though.