I just started my engine built months ago and it ran great except for the idle. I don't think it's retarding. Vacuum has no draw. I have a good distributor but obviously I need some parts that I can't find. I'd rather not retard the timing manually. Any help?

123 ignition Distributor - Bluetooth programmable

How are you measuring for vacuum, and where are you measuring it from? Does the advance work? Does the advance plate move when you pull a vacuum?

Put a vacuum gauge on the canister to see if it holds. If not, good luck finding a replacement canister. I spent a couple of months looking for one then finally gave up and bought the 123 distributor. Not cheap, but seemed the best alternative and it’s pretty much plug and play.

Pretty sure I have a good working vacuum canister. It's on a non-working 0 230 18 009 dizzy I bought on eBay and the centrifugal advance mechanism was frozen, company wouldn't take it back because I discovered it after 30 days.

I'll check the vacuum canister today.

GN

I've seen sticky advance plates that cause problems. If you have some kind of vacuum pump, you can connect it to the dashpot and see if it's moving the plate easily. If you're comfortable pulling the distributor, it might not hurt to take it out to clean and lubricate the moving parts

Also disconnect the rod from the vacuum chamber to the advance/retard plate, apply a vacuum to the chamber and see if the rod moves - also see if it will hold a position, or leaks and slowly returns to the resting position......

GN

I have a good working vacuum chamber if you need one. But seems you disappeared......???????

Thanks Gatornapper for the tip. I got it fixed. Also had a vacuum hose split. It runs great.