well let's close this chapter....

TimAT came by yesterday as promised and we dug into the distributor. I wish I had taken pictures to post with this, but such is life....

Upon removal of the distributor, no serious issues noted, however that reference I made a few weeks back to being able to move it a little bit each way made much more sense in person - lol - the was ZERO spring back. We removed the rotor and the weights/springs/assembly were essentially rusted/frozen in place offering little movement. Soooo it was pretty much a given that the initial hunch was the bulk of the problem!

Next step we removed the shaft to inspect. Had to improvise a bit to get the pin out to remove the gear but all was good. The removal of the shaft was a bit more tricky....slid out half way before it was pretty much stuck. Patience, persistence, a little acetone pored into the bottom of the distributor, and about 15-20 minutes later it slid apart. Needless to say the years of sludge had gummed up the shaft. It was pretty much a given at this point that between the gummed up shaft and rusted weights and springs, the advance was non-existent and our cause was definitely found.

We cleaned it all up with acetone - slid everything back together - installed the new curve kit, cap, and rotor and dropped it back in....well ok - we had to tinker with the drop in part so everything lined up where it was supposed to! Next - will it fire right up? ABSOLUTELY - first turn of the key and we're off to the races setting the timing and making minor carb adjustments. We ended up swapping out the springs for a different set in the kit to get more advance. Initial timing set at around 10 and I believe we ended up at around 28, but TimAT can chime in for those that this may be of more interest.

TimAT was very patient with me in reviewing the whole timing and adjustments piece with me as it has been over 20 years since I had been anywhere near a timing light. I can't thank the forum and guys like Tim enough for the patience and knowledge that is shared!!

We took the car out for a drive and it runs like a champ!!! The fix eliminated all the issues I had been experiencing with rough start, acceleration hesitation, crummy idling, and fear of being stuck somewhere - lol. Now I know this is not the last hurdle I have, but now I can at least be comfortable with my daily driver to start tackling a few more things on the list.

Thanks for everyone's help/responses! I'm smiling today with a more reliable vette than yesterday! A beer and a little conversation with a new friend is the best way ever to start the weekend!!!

 

Pretty much sums it up. With some more time, and a bit of rework on the stop bushings getting 36* total won't be a trick. We had a small hassle getting the distributor dropped back in the correct place, but a couple of tries and away we go. Really was not a hassle, just me being picky about being able to get a full adjustment range with the vacuum advance not hitting anything.
On the first start- cold engine, the vacuum break on the carb was not opening the choke enough and was causing a little stumble from being too rich. 1/2 turn on that and it smoothed right out.
The tach was kind of dead- the wire from the tach filter was just laying on the manifold next to the filter. Pretty typical stuff for a C3.

Great to meet new people- once the weather gets better we can get serious and work it over again and get the advance curve exactly where it needs to be. The "Fine Tune" part of it..