What you broke was the notoriously delicate connector body for the Hall effect sensor. The sensor itself is right against the distributor shaft, out of harms way.

Of course if the connector comes adrift from under the cap, it will quickly yank the fine wires out of the sensor and then you will really be stuck. What I did was remove the whole distributor (see the 700/900 FAQ) and repair the connector with epoxy. Once back together, it worked fine.

I eventaully had to have the sensor replaced. If memory serves, it came with a new connector. This is one of those little bits that can stop your car dead, so you will want to fix it right at some point.