'64 230 running overly rich

[Improbcat]

The 230 in my '64 is running really rich, so badly so that it backfires when I'm coasting in gear on the highway.

I've rebuilt the carb & replaced the float. This was only the 2nd carb I have ever rebuilt, so no guarantees I got it right. It didn't seem to make any difference though.

I tried hooking up a vacuum gauge to the vac line off the carb, but I get zero vacuum at idle, and more the more I accelerate, which doesn't seem entirely right.

I have not set the timing as I don't have any idea what the correct timing is, but I tried doing it by ear and just as it start getting to the smoothest spot the distributor hits the block.

Is there a way to adjust the fuel mix on the carb? Is the vacuum right or do I have an issue there? Is the distributor stabbed in wrong?

Help?