just rebuilt runs bad

67Dart273 said
Do you mean 18 as set at idle speed? Not very surprising

Yes, 18 set at idle. 15-20 has been recommended so I thought that was good.

67Dart273 said
Which specific MSD coil are you using? I would think it should at least run, although some of the "big" coils will be hard on points. Did you check for spark out at the coil? Did this coil fire and run with the MSD box? Weird.

Using the 8302 blaster coil. The engine will fire but will not run. When running the MSD set up this coil works.

67Dart273 said
You need to specify exactly what you mean. Are you saying that you set the timing to these figures AT IDLE speed? You should be able to do so, then rev the engine to higher RPM, and SEE with the light where the timing is advancing

All the timing readings are initial. When I rev the engine they advance.

67Dart273 said
Turning the dist from 18 CCW and having the RPM go up TO A CERTAIN POINT would be "normal." You should be able to take a tach and vacuum gauge, and see where the timing CCW/ CW "peaks" the vacuum. Highest RPM is not necessarily where you "want" it. Some racers with a big cam run "locked" timing, IE no advance at all. The engine starts, runs, and is always at a fixed time. Not the best for starters, nor, usually, street use.

Understand.

67Dart273 said
What you may be "saying" is that as you advance the timing (CCW) the RPM starts to go up, and AS the RPM goes up, this starts to cause the mechanical advance to kick in, which would raise the RPM still further to a point.

This part I'm not clear on and will have to figure out. As you know the stock dist. has vacuum adv.. I was expecting that with the vacuum disconnect there would be 0 advance when rpm increased but it became obvious that isn't the case.

67Dart273 said
I said this before, and again---I'd "power time" the engine at high RPM to about 35, try a little more if no ping UP TO about 40, until you get a feel for how it will run.

I'll try this.

67Dart273 said
After you set this high RPM timing point, CHECK the timing at idle "to see where it went." This is because, with an unknown distributor, you don't really know what the advance curve is. Because you now have a breaker points distributor, it PROBABLY has a "better" curve than some of the later breakerless "smog" stockers. Yanking out the obviously heavier spring on the advance weight may help.

Understand, thanks.