Please bear with me and read this entire post, I need some advice and help.I will try not to be longer winded than I have to be.
Ok so the HEI is finally installed. It wasn't as complicated as I thought it was going to be and It was a great learning experience...The getting the timing right and getting all the vacuums correct seemed to be and are still currently being the challenge.
First of all, once I got the distributor to fully seat and once I got all the spark plug wires built and connected she fired up on the first try. So with all vacuum ports plugged I let her get warm and thats when the funny business started. At this time the only vacuum that was connected was the transmission and the PCV valve(I recently added the PCV valve - this was the first time running this motor with a PCV). After the car was warm and as recommended I started to advance the timing to the specs I was given (custom curve for my application, 18*) and I also decided to connect the vacuum to the brake booster. After a few minutes the timing started bouncing around, at first just a few degrees and then more and more until she was bouncing around up to 6-8* or so. I cut off the car and thought ok maybe I need to connect the vacuum to the distributor so I connected ported vacuum to the dizzy. When I started the car again(had to key the motor a few times she was a bit harder to start this time) with the ported vacuum connected she was idling very high - 22-26*.So I disconnected the ported vacuum and connected manifold vacuum. The car ran a bit better with manifold vacuum but still not great, so i disconnected the PCV valve and put the breather cap that I had previously back in. This improved the idling a bit more but the timing was still bouncing around. After a few times of trying to adjust the timing and the car dying, trying to adjust the timing and the car dying, I started to notice that each start was getting harder and harder the warmer the car got.
I also noticed that with the brake booster connected to the vacuum line, my brake pedal would go all the way to the floor with almost no effort. The brake pedal was mush, completely gone. So I disconnect the vacuum and plugged the port on the booster and the pedal came back. This is also the first time that the car has had the current brake booster connected to vacuum(recent front disc brake upgrade).
So all in all today was a success because I was able to get the new dizzy installed and she looks great. But I need to get this car on the road and I only have about a month to do it. (evenings and a few weekends). I need desperate help.
1. Why would the car run worse with a PCV?
2. What could cause my timing to bounce around the way it is?
3. What could cause my warm hard start issue?
4. Why would my brake pedal turn to mush with the vacuum connected?
Simple answers please, I'm not a pro. Just a guy who loves his classic car and is learning as he goes.
Thanks!