Well, now that it seems I've gotten the carb, ignition and some of the other issues on my cart figured out, I'd like to install my vaccuum advance distributor. Its an 034 SVDA that I bought on Samba and the guy I bought it from had the condensor and diaphragm replaced. I had installed it before for a short time, but noticed that it was causing the car to run rough (before I entered the nightmare of dual carbs). It runs reasonably well with the 009 installed (as good as can be expected), so I suspect there must be something wrong with the SVDA. Possibly bad bearings or improperly assembled upon rebuild? Does anyone have access to a diagram or suggestions on what to check for wear?

if the shaft has slop than the bushings are wore out. hold the distributor in one hand and wiggle the shaft side to side. any slop and your timing will be all over the place.

Okay, it has a very small bit of side to side (lateral?) play, but doesn't feel alall that bad. What I'm more concerned about is the vertical play, which is close to 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. I can also freely move the "teeth" at the bottom of the shaft on their axial pin. Is this normal?

thats normal, and shouldnt be a problem as long as you have the spring that goes between the distributor drive gear and the distributor.

Thats interesting you say that. So it should go above the drive pinion and underneath the distributor? I heard about said spring, but could swear I haven't see one on this car since I've owned it. I should say that I knew it was supposed to be there, but always thought it was under the drive pinion, not on top. Could be one problem I've overlooked and why I'm still getting a miss around 2,800-3,000 rpms.

if you look on top of the distributor drive gear youll see a small hole right in the middle of it. thats where the spring goes. but i doubt that is whats causing your problem, but you never know......it could be one thing to rule out though.

I'll try to pull it today to verify that it has a spring. To be honest I can't remember how it ran when I first got it and before I put the carbs on it, so as much as I try, its tough to rule out the carbs themselves. However, the synchrometer doesn't lie, so now I'm leaning back toward ignition. I still get the random backfire from the top of the carbs on the highway, around 65 mph at 3,000 rpm in 5th. This happens with the 009 dizzy as well as the 034, if I recall.

Spring is there and looks properly seated. Hmmm.

stock camshaft?

Yep, stock. Which is a definite low-point, but I don't believe is the issue. After further review, I think I now have found the problem (see other thread). I think there is still a lot of fuel making its way past the starter valves, causing a full-time rich condition.

Regarding the SVDA though, I believe that is shimmed incorrectly. Once I get the carb fixed this weekend and if it runs decent, I'll try to SVDA again after shimming it.