Hi folks,
Most of the way through my first tune-up. Now, I'm looking to replace the condenser.

I spent about a half hour trying to get the first screw out. Only to find there's another screw on the other side (holding the rubber grommet). pita!

Is it recommended to remove the whole distributor just to replace a condenser?
(seems excessive. Am I missing something?)

I remove the whole distributor. It's not difficult after you get the hang of it. It's a good time to verify your timing. You'll likely never have to replace the condenser again so that's a plus.

After dropping that tiny condenser screw several times, I just pull the dizzy now anytime I mess with it.

One more. Pull it. While it's out, you can set the point gap at a perfect .016 and your dwell will be pretty darn close.

You can pull the dizzy without screwing up the timing.
Just take the one nut off of the holddown plate and it will lift out with some wiggling.

Dont loosen the timing adjust nut, and it will go back in with the same timing setting.