Timing is everything

So, I'm almost through the first tank of gas since fixing all the fuel issues. I don't know the mileage yet as I haven't filled up, but it looks to be a bit higher than it was. I'm at 210 miles on the odometer with about a quarter tank left. After adjusting for the incorrect speedometer gear, that means ~175 miles on ~12 gallons, or 14.5 mpg. That's a vast improvement, nearly 50% over pre-fuel fix (10mpg).

Moving the bottleneck down to the next step in the ladder, I went outside today with my fancy timing light to check the timing. With the vacuum line off at idle, in gear, 12 degrees. Perfect. With the vacuum hooked up? 35. Oh snaps. Too high.

Rev the engine to around 2000rpm in neutral? FIFTY DEGREES of advance. That's way too much. I backed the vacuum advance off until it was 40 degrees at 2000rpm. That put it ~23 degrees at idle, and really smoothed things out a lot. We'll see how it drives on the way to work tomorrow.