Way back when I was having my "running like crap" saga with my old engine I
had taken it to one shop that found some ground issues but they also set my
timing , etc. to factory specs. The van was unbearably sluggish when I got
it back. Finally, after lots of items with my last mechanic he finally
pulled the vacuum line to the front of the distributer, stuck and screw in
the hose to block it then set the timing 10 degrees advanced. The van ran
like it had Zetec in it.  (OK, an exaggeration.) It ran fantastic, plenty of
power and gas mileage was ridiculously high, 18-19 city and 23 highway in an
'83 Westy.

OK, I get my van back from the guy who put the new engine in. He tells me
that my mechanic had the wrong hose in the rear vacuum connector of the
distributor but I did notice the other hose still laying there with a screw
in it. I'm sure the mechanic set the timing to spec. Anyway, the van has
smooth power throughout the entire band but is really sluggish. Nowhere near
the power of my low compression leaky old motor.  Here is a picture of my
current distributer:

http://www.feddishbasses.com/vw/dist.html

I'd like to get this engine running with a little more power. What is the
opinion of the list?  Should I re-connect the vacuum hose?  Can I advance
the timing safely to get more power? If so, how much is safe without harming
the engine?

Thanks,

Bryan