71 280SE 4.5 - Trying to bring back to daily driver status.
I know I need the manual, but I'm on thin ice on spending at the
moment.

I installed the Crane XR3000 w/PS60 coil to hopefully solve
my running hot, point eating problem. The kit installed ok,
and ran pretty well, but things went south when I
kept tweaking with a bad/cracked dist cap.
Fouled a set of Champions pretty quickly.

I now have new dist cap/rotor/vacuum advance,
and changed vac lines. Cleaned up the fouled plugs,
and she's running, but a little rough.

Currently running with vacuum/emissions/ac/switch bypassed.
Vacuum is stronger, but with no gauge, it's hard to say.

Back to the subject line:
Trying to set the timing and see varying remarks on posts.

Have a timing light and dwell meter that reads up to 2k rpm.
Have a white dot on zero (?) from last reputable shop tuneup.
Have not messed with fuel mix or cold start (the BIG screw
at front of manifold).

7 BTDC w/o vac, cranking speed
(That would be where the white dot is to the left/before
the pointy marker - right ?)

5 ATDC w/vac @ idle
White dot on right/after pointy marker

Tonite, with the VAC on (switch bypassed),
semi-clean fouled plugs still in,
the car will run at BTDC or ZERO, but not ATDC.
It sputters and dies.

Have not changed any fuel settings, such as mix or cold start valve. I realize they may need adjusting now the vacuum
system is coming back into the picture.