[markpj23]

I was able to increase the vacuum from 14 to 16 inches by adjusting the idle mixture screws. Still getting a heavy gasoline smell out of the exhaust.

I have not been able to figure out what the heck is going on with engine timing, however. I have the vacuum advance disconnected and have capped the port on the carb that it connects to. Measuring manifold vacuum from the intake manifold fitting.

I have turned the distributor as much as I dare (at this point) to advance the timing, but the timing is still way beyond TDC. The idle speed did not change much as I advanced the timing, and that has me curious.

I have never seen timing so far out of adjustment and am afraid I'm missing something critical here. Yes I verified I'm on plug #1. There is only one scribe mark on the harmonic balancer.

Any ideas?