HEI Vacume Advance

[FMG CAMARO]

I have an accel hei distributor on my small block chevy. Where do I connect the vacume cannister on the dist. to? I have maual brakes, and manual steering. If this is not connected is my vacume advance not working? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[aggressive male]

Yes, if it is not connected your vacuum advance is not working. Look for a place on the intake manifold for a hose fitting or a little bolt that blocks where a hose fitting can screw into. You could also plug the canister into a fitting on the carb if you know the right one.

[MonzaRacer]

Do not hook a vacuum canister to the advance, hook a line directly to maifold vacuum and then readjust your carb.
Also you need to make sure you have your timing cranked up around 14- 18 initial with vacuum advance unhooked.
What this will do is make the engien run at ahigher speed and allow you to close the throttle more and get better controll of your idle mixture. Also this will get you better mileage at cruise.
Also look at the spings on the centrifical advance inside the distributor under the rotor, what you want to remember is that you want your timing in as fast as you can get it(ie lighter springs) with out spark knock on acceleration.
Spectre and Mr Gasket sell the springs and MSD does too.
What I do is use mostly stock HEIs and they will run up to 6.5k to 7k with quality parts and iuse the stock type heave weights as a fast stock curve suits most cars unless you have some serious aftermarket heads.
You can also mix and match the springs like one light and one medium to slow the curve down.
Then you use manifold vacuum to advance and then readjust your mixture and idle in gear(hopefully you have an auto with a properly loose torque converter to match the cam, if not you engien will idle way high out of gear and can run on unless you have a dashpot which is a vacuum or slectrical solenoid on the throttle and use it to set idle speed and when the key is shut off.
Good Luck
Lee Abel
AFTERMARKET PERFORMANCE