I REALLY appreciate you guys taking so much time trying to help me out!

I'm going to follow After Sharks instructions this week and will let you know how it goes. There is certainly a possibility of a vacuum leak even though I was very careful.

My total timing is 36 @ 2800 but with the vc1862 canister it should be 52.

I know my hei is installed correctly.

I do not have the voodoo cam installed yet since I can't find one on the market yet (I have ordered it from Summit) - have mild cam now

From what you've said I know I need to:

1. change my vacuum advance to ported
2. close my throttle blades because the primaries ARE on the slots and the secondaries are open just as far (but not on the higher up slots)
3. Tune back and forth with vacuum gauge/idle mixture screws vs idle screw

here are some images that will probably help you.

If you look closely you will see the transfer slot is not exposed or the throttle blade is right at the edge.  this is what you want to strive for.

On another note, I have never seen anyone run 52 degrees not even racers.  So IMOO your distributor setup is completely wrong.  Not sure if anyone else will step up and agree with me or not.  I've been doing this a long time and you should strive for 10 to 12 degrees initial with a total of 36.

So keep us posted. As I'm starting to believe you have a vacuum leak. 

this is definitely wrong..  this should be connected to metered or timed vaccum on the carb..

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Not necessarily.  Often (usually) manifold vacuum will give you a better (more stable) idle.  Ported vacuum was invented for polution control and is not necessarily conducive to manageable tuning!
 
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I hate to disagree with you..  but i must..  first the vacuum advance isnt supposed to help at idle..  manifold vacuum is highest at idle and its going to give you more advance at idle.. 

at higher rpms..  when you want more advance..  your manifold vacuum drops off..

your not even supposed to have it connected when you set your timing..

ive never heard of anyone running 52 deg total advance either..  36-38 is about as far as your go

this is definitely wrong..  this should be connected to metered or timed vaccum on the carb..

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Not necessarily.  Often (usually) manifold vacuum will give you a better (more stable) idle.  Ported vacuum was invented for polution control and is not necessarily conducive to manageable tuning!
 
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I hate to disagree with you..  but i must..  first the vacuum advance isnt supposed to help at idle..  manifold vacuum is highest at idle and its going to give you more advance at idle.. 

at higher rpms..  when you want more advance..  your manifold vacuum drops off..

your not even supposed to have it connected when you set your timing..

ive never heard of anyone running 52 deg total advance either..  36-38 is about as far as your go

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Really?????

http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/Vacuumexplained.doc

Actually Ben is right, and wrong.  All of his statements are correct.

BUT there are several production cars that do have vacuum applied to the vacuum advance at idle.  They start at base timing, then apply advance right away at idle.  This was done for emission purposes and does nothing to make the car run better.  Cleaner yes, better no.  And it's only cleaner when several other pieces of emissions equipment are in place and functioning.

They do exist.  There were a few years where there were quite a few of them.  They perform poorly, get lousy mileage, but do run cleaner.

Oh Boy.

Lars is partially right in some of his writings.  I'm not going to pick it apart, but you need to hear me on this and I'm not trying to be an A-hole about it.

Yes if you hook up your distributor vacuum to a direct manifold vacuum port at Idle it will pull advance.  So lets say you set initial with the vacuum hose off at 12 degrees.  If you plug it into direct manifold vacuum the vacuum advance will pull more advance probably around 30 to 32 degrees depending on the unit at idle.  But what happens when you crack the throttle to accelerate?  The manifold vacuum goes away.  That causes the timing to drop or basically is  retarding your timing which will cause the engine to fall on its face.

I can tell you if you look in the photo that I posted that shows where to hook up your vacuum advance on a Holley Carb that port will pull little if any vacuum at all at Idle.  Trust me I work for the company and have first hand experience with them.  This is where your vacuum advanced needs to be connected.

Ben is right I would leave the vacuum hose off to set your initial just to be on the safe side, however if you want to connect the hose it won't cause a problem during initial.  Aim for 10 to 12 degrees.  Plug you distributor into this port.  Advance the throttle and you will see your timing advance.  This port is tied to a signal port in the venturi so it will see eddy currents as air passes by it creating vacuum pull on the distributor.

If you don't believe me just put a vacuum gauge on the various ports and operate the throttle and watch what happens at each of the ports as the throttle is opened and closed.

Here is a diagram that shows what happens in a carb veturi during operation.  Its right out of one of our Holley Handbooks.

Thanks After Shark for the pics and additional exp.

I am going to stick with recommended setup from you/Holley.

I'll change back later this week when the weather is better and will let you know what happens.

Actually Ben is right, and wrong.  All of his statements are correct.

BUT there are several production cars that do have vacuum applied to the vacuum advance at idle.  They start at base timing, then apply advance right away at idle.  This was done for emission purposes and does nothing to make the car run better.  Cleaner yes, better no.  And it's only cleaner when several other pieces of emissions equipment are in place and functioning.

They do exist.  There were a few years where there were quite a few of them.  They perform poorly, get lousy mileage, but do run cleaner.

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well i will admit ive never seen a car use manifold vacuum..  the very concept is foreign to me.  It makes no sense..  anyone who has installed a high duration cam in their corvette and had there vacuum accessories die knows that manifold vaccum is unreliable.  There is plenty of information of the internet that can be usefull and plenty that can be less than usefull.    

I agree with AS's suggestion on this..  hook up a vacuum gauge to your manifold vaccum..  then play with your throttle.  the vacuum gauge does not lie.  then try to make sense of that article. 

just think of throttle plates when open as huge vacuum leaks.  much like a vaccum cleaner..  when you take the hose and hold it against your hand it sucks real hard.. when you take your hand off and allow air in the hose the suction is much lower.. 

its very simple.. ported vacuum increases with throttle, manifold decreases.  I can think of no exceptions to this rule.  so to hook up vac advance to manifold vacuum gives you all of your advance early and none of it late. 

remember the article on the internet that warned of people putting aids infected needles in phone booths, KFC changed their name because they are no longer using chicken, etc etc.  just because someone wrote it doesnt make it true.

I take back the part about not having ever seen it..  ken.. do you know if a 1978 plymouth volare station wagon (slant 6) had this setup..  I remember seeing some craziness like this and just assumed some idiot had messed it all up..  i reconnected it "properly" and the car ran much better..  i wound up having to detune it some because it kept on doing one wheel wonders...

Thanks AS, cthulhu and everyone.

The explanation really makes sense about vacuum sources!!!

AfterShark, those drawing look almost exactly like some I have used in class.

Ben, I'm not sure the slant 6 ever used the manifold to dist setup.  Even the cars the did use it ran better if you switched it to a ported vacuum.  You also had to reset timing. As i said, it helped emissions, and everything else suffered.  Several Olds cars had this, and some other GMs.

One more point.  Ported vacuum also goes away at Wide Open Throttle.  There is no vacuum until the throttle is opened, then it builds, and at WOT it goes away.  This is actually a benefit.  As we go to WOT the carb becomes richer than at idle or mid throttle.  This pollutes, but creates more power.  Due to the richer fuel mix, the flame in the cylinder travels faster than the previous leaner mix.  This means a drop in vacuum and a bit of timing retard is in order.  The later timing compared to the faster burn creates the peak burn at the same time as mid throttle more advanced slower burning leaner mixtures.  You still have mechanical advance from the distributor weights, so timing does not go back to base.  Computer cars are programmed to operate in a similar fashion.

Some times a venturi vacuum is used.  It is a much weaker signal, but very accurate.  It does not exist at idle and peaks at WOT.  Due to the weak signal it needs a vacuum amplifier to operate anything, and modifies manifold vacuum to control a given device.  That means at WOT the manifold vacuum still goes away, but the control is better.

Bottom line, use Bens and AfterSharks recommendations if you want it to run the best.