Distributor issues

[rbagley]

I've been having some issues with my pickup ever since I changed the points. I now know that I just gapped them wrong and they went out quickly. At the time though I just decided to upgrade to an HEI rather than mess with it. I got one from a scrap yard and replaced the module, cap, coil, wires, and ran a 12V line to it. It ran really rough until I moved it back one tooth and timed it with a light. At that point it would idle fine but wouldn't advance when you pushed the gas at all (loud rattling sound in higher RPMs also). I messed with it for a little bit and didn't make any progress. I got good grades last semester and got a grant so I decided to just idle it down to a NAPA mechanic shop down the street to have them diagnose it. They said that the vacuum advance wasn't working, but I knew it was, having sucked on the hose, so I went in to see what they meant. It was the mechanical advance that wasn't working; it would advance a little but only a few degrees, then it would bind up. They said that I needed a new distributor and they would put it in for the low price of 400 dollars. I decided to buy my own from Summit and put it in myself. I did that yesterday and it is still the same as it was. Also, when I turn the key to start it it acts like the battery is low for a second and then starts cranking fast. It has 12.5ish volts when the engine is shut off so I don't know what is stopping it from turning over as quickly as it should. I really want to be pointless but I still have the old distributor and am debating putting it back in if I can't figure this out. Thanks for the help guys.