Ok, I went and checked the vacuum pumps on both vehicles, starting with the known good one and then the new #2 one assumed to be bad.
I cleaned the connection areas before fiddling, and hooked up the mighty vac and on #1 got a perfectly solid 22.
On #2, i got total 0 and i figured since i had a hand pump connected i could see what happens when i tried generating pressure and it does not hold anything.
Now, this is with the main tube still connected from the vacuum pump to the brake booster, since that is so difficult to disconnect. I simply disconnected the two other lines and plugged one and used the other for testing. Did it the same way in both vehicles.

Can we glean any information/diagnosis of #2 with the knowledge that no pressure is held at this spot when hand pumped?

Figured I'd ask that before trying anything else.

Also, so far it seems i've very much removed a lot of the mold issue from the vehicle. I left the dehumidifier and also a heavy duty air purifier running in the car overnight. A little dangerous but oh well. I have also now sprayed the Mold Control (EPA approved non-bleach natural solution) in multiple phases over all of the dirty looking areas of carpet and also those floorpads in front seats. Also along the edges along side seats that get dirty too. Also under the bench seat.

When i sit in the car now it smells closer to #1, just like vintage vinyl, and it seems to be improving throughout the course of the day as i've had doors wide open (light shut off) all day.