The vac advance works. It's new and I've watched it turn when I pull on ythe throttle at the carb. I'm just saying that the dist has a little play. When I grab the dist it will turn either way about 1/8-1/4 in or so with no effort and without activating the vac advance. This if its running or not. It's like the dist is loose in its clamp. But the screw and the nut can'y be tightened any more.
Something I noticed today is that sometimes it would backfire and sometimes not at downshift and/or decel.
Atomarc thanks for stickin w/ me on this.