If the cam gear is centered in the distributor hole, then I would think that the timing gears are ok, right? When my first 235 did this to me, the cam slid back and threw the timing off to where I could barely get it to run. Don't know if this is exactly what would happen with the later sixes or not....
You didn't say what year the 292 is, or if the dizzy is the old points type or not, but in the late 70's they started to have quality issues with machining the blocks, and they started trashing some distributors. They solved this by making the dist. shaft a 2 piece design, to take into account any misalignment between the parts. You may need to get an HEI dizzy with the 2 piece shaft in order to get it to work. Definitely can't hurt.
If pieces are missing, you will want to drop the pan and flush it so you don't trash the bearings, oil pump, etc.... with a chunk out of the cam teeth, it looks like its time for a new cam also.
