Both of my cars use no vacuum advance at all. Strictly mechanical vacuum for both distributors. This isn't the way to go for everyone, as vacuum advance is more economical, and on a heavier car, more important. But you might try simply removing the vacuum advance, plugging the port, and setting the timing up. Drive it around, and see how it responds to no vacuum advance. Mine both work great without it, but both are much lighter cars than your Camaro.

 

When I connected the hose to manifold vacuum, the idle didn't change at all. I was checking with a timing light when I did this and didn't see any change (increase) on the tape with the light on it. Should it have? It appeared as though connecting the line to manifold vacuum did nothing. I'll get it figured out eventually. Vall, I've thought about bypassing the vacuum advance but would ultimately like to get this all figured out. I've spent too much money on all these extra parts to be able to fine tune the timing and I'd really like to utilize this stuff. It's got to be close. Engine runs too well for me to be that far off.


I have an issue with the driver side fender mounting bolt/captive nut in the door jamb. When removing the fenders the nut (whatever it's called) that is/was mounted on the inside of the body fell down and is MIA. I remember a long while back I was advised to remove the inner kick plate to locate this missing part. Problem is, the mounting hole where the bolt goes/nut was is not exposed from behind. I can't get my hand on the hole as it's surrounded by metal? Tough to explain but I don't see how I could even get that captive nut back in there even if I did find it? It's just not accessible, I tried and tried. Should I just weld a nut over the hole on the outside? Other than doing that, I don't see what else could be done.

 

In some cases I've used those nuts with built in washers to repair captured nuts or caged nuts that failed. I simply drill the hole out with a unibit, and then use a bolt through one of the flange head nuts to hold it as I make a couple tacks. Once it's tacked, I pull the bolt out, and continue to tack around the edge of the nut until it's solid.


If you pull the line off the manifold, you should be able to feel vacuum sucking through the line, and the rpm's should increase. If you don't feel vacuum pulling, there's a large vacuum leak somewhere! If you do feel vacuum pulling, but there's no change, then it could be one of two things. The vacuum advance can isn't working, or it's restricted somehow. Could be an adjustment, if it's adjustable. Or could be a leak there also. A spray of starting fluid around the vacuum advance while it's got the hose hooked up will tell you if there's a vacuum leak, and it will pull the starting fluid into the manifold.

 

Just got back into town, been gone all week so I haven't done anything to the Camaro. That's what I'm going to have to do for the fender mounting spot by the door then. Was pretty much thinking that was my only option as there's no way to access the area behind that hole by the door hinges. Probably not going to mess with it until I pull the fenders back off for bodywork next year.


Vall, I've got vacuum, it just didn't change the idle when I pulled the advance line off. One thing I did notice (well 2 things actually) was that vacuum was a bit lower than it was the last time I checked it. The other thing that was discovered and most likely was not helping with the low vacuum was that #6 spark plug wire was almost off the plug and (yep, again) started melting to the header. It wasn't off the plug completely but was not "clipped" on and was pulled back far enough to be resting against the header tube. So, I'll replace the melted boot with a leftover from the new set and before reinstallation will be modifying the billet separator on that side to hopefully eradicate that problem once and for all. Thought I had it fixed, and probably would've been fine if it was securely attached but not taking any more chances. Anyway, I'll take a look with a vacuum gauge again once that's all done and the battery is back in there so I can see what's going on when it's firing on all 8. Got the nose almost completely installed, just a few more bolts by the pass. side headlight area. I want to finish the reassembly of the front end and get the lights back in there so then I can specifically focus on getting these last couple issues resolved.

 

You need plug boot insulators! Oops! I already said that before!
I didn't question if you have vacuum, but if it's low it can be symptomatic of either too tight valve adjustment, or a vacuum leak somewhere.

 

Not sure if I mentioned it or not, but I DID order boot insulators. I used the link you provided to find some red ones but they take a little while to get here from Shang Zhen. Hope they're not defective. Not gonna need them after I whittle the billet separator down a little like I did the other side but if it should come to that, I'll use the insulators. They're not going to help keep the wire on the plug though, that was my fault.
I understand how to read a vacuum gauge, when I say a bit lower I meant it was showing 13"hg and with that cam I'm running I didn't expect to be seeing a reading of 20 anyway. When I get everything reinstalled I'll get it figured out.

 

I had to change to 90 degree wires with good lums to hold the .wires off the headers ,the make your .own wire kit worked good ,about the filter I may concider going back to cheap #3.00 filter ,but I run 93 octane an .get one more ontane booster gumout is like 93,8 onctane ,i can.t say what the inside of my tank looks like,but my gas can has not had .anything floating in it in years ,,sound like your on your way to getting this figured out 78

 

I'm using 90* boots on my wires also. The straight boots would literally lay on a couple of the header tubes if I tried to use those. This last wire boot melting was entirely my fault. I must not've gotten it completely clipped onto the plug, it's so tough to get your hands inbetween there to get it on the plug. I'll have that all taken care of today. I've got a little work left to do before the front end is finished up but I hope to be on the road this week.

 

I use a dab of GE silicone grease on the end of each plug, so my boot will slide on easier, and also not stick later. Makes it a lot simpler to get them on and off. I just smear some on the end, including the porcelain part of the plugs. It's non conductive, so wont allow the plugs to short to anything. Since it's clear it doesn't show either.
13" of vacuum is normal for any decent cam with some duration to it. About where my BBC is, and my SBC is a bit higher at around 15".

 

Ahh so. Ni Hao spark plug wire insulators! Specio dewivewy in the mail today, straight from a Chinese speed shop. Suppose I'll utilize them since I've got 'em but something tells me they won't withstand 1200 degree temps as the listing stated. There's only one plug left that the wire is close to the exhaust, but might as well.
I've not had any trouble getting the wires on and off the plugs, just a few spots where I can't really get my hands in there to fit it over the plugs. The silicone is a good idea but I don't really feel like driving into town for it right now.
I had 15" of vacuum late last year when I checked, that was before fixing the issues I was having with high idle and glowing header tubes. When I checked last week and saw 13" that was when a plug wire was off the plug. I spent yesterday getting the front end finished up. I threw some paint on the nose and had to wait for it to dry before getting the headlights/wiring installed. PITA getting all that wiring shortened and tucked away from that headlight relay wiring kit I got a few years back. Hope to have it running later on today.