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Now one other thing, the MP distributor has a vaccum advance in its pod. I tried to back it off ccw as Prof. Erhenburg says to do. It didn't change a thing. I backed it off three full turns without a change. Not sure that is normal.



What the allen screw does is change the amount of vacuum required to pull in the vac adv pot - it does not change the total amount of vacuum advance. You must shorten the stroke of the arm to do that.

If you crank the screw all the way in one direction (I forget which way it works) it might take 12-14" of vacuum to fully advance the mechanism. Screw it all the way in the other direction, it might take 5" to pull it in. It might pull in at idle (a bad thing). That's why it's best to know exactly how much vacuum is required for the diaphragm to begin to move, and how much for it to be pulled all the way in. Sometimes, I'll tee in a vacuum gauge to the vacuum advance, put the gauge in the car, and ride around to make sure it's pulling in under the right circumstances.

Leave the vacuum advance alone (and disconnected) until you get the initial timing and the mechanical advance right. Do those things first, vac advance last.