Quote Originally Posted by tim_bo16
yes, i did all timing with the advanced disconnected. and that is good to know that the 11" of vaccum is alright, less to worry about then.

well thank you all for your help, finally got the purple people eater running good!!

Keep in mind that if you don't pick up to 17"-19" vacuum at 1500-2000 rpm with no load on the engine things still aren't correct.
If it does, then everything is probably ok and you just need to pursue the timing the engine wants.

If you can't get the vacuum above 15"-16" you may have the cam a tooth off.