[Jethro]

Well, things didn't exactly go as planned. The brand new HEI distributor I bought thru Amazon dropped right in. I thought I had the timing pretty close but she didn't start right off.
After cranking it for a bit I got out to turn the distributor a few degrees and saw fuel leaking from the pump. Lucky I had one. Sidetrack for a bit and swap out the fuel pump.
Ok... fuel fixed... again...
Back to timing...
Finally get her fired up and the light firing. Initial reads about 18 advanced. Try to turn it back a little. Engine dies.
Try and try again. Can't get the dang thing to run right.
Eventually, accidentally, I figger out that if I push a little toward the front of the distributor the engine smooths out and idle speeds up. ???? WHAT???
After about 3 hours total in the blazing heat I gave up.
Planning to check my grounds and see if that helps. Otherwise I'll probably just put the old points distributor back in.
Any advice?