Checked the vacuum advance with some negative lung pressure. Got it to come out quite a ways. Then it snapped right back once I let off. Seems ok.
OK. I torqued on the distributor gear. Had channel locks on the upper portion of the shaft... underneath the mechanical advance.
Didn't put 700 ft lbs on it or whatever, but a fair amount. Then I got a little paranoid that I was stressing the mechanical advance. Is that correct? Are those little weights the only things keeping the shaft from reversing? If not... then what is?
Clearly the shaft is not a single piece between the gear and the upper portion that's below the mechanical advance/rotor connection. Turning the rotor against the springs will also turn the upper, visible portion of the shaft, but not the gear down below. Was not expecting that.
