[Spridgets] pinking problem

[Marc]

I have a problem that is beyond my meager abilities to solve. My '73 
Midget with 1275 still has a few issues it seems. The first is pinking I 
just can't seem to solve. It generally occurs (or is only noticeable) 
under extremely light throttle - say cruising a flat road in 4th around 
40 mph. The distributor was just rebuilt and recurved by Jeff at advance 
distributors. Jeff's instructions were to set timing at 12 - 14 degrees 
BTDC @ idle without vac. (Very tough to see timing scale!!!) I started 
at 12 BTDC, and been retarding and retarding. Just can't get rid of it. 
(I've been running 89 octane gas ). It's down to where it runs like 
s**t... My B series hasn't been as persnickety as this...

Anyway, last night I'm dinking around with it some more, then go to hook 
the vacuum line back up. As soon as I do, I hear the advance diaphragm 
begin vibrating rapidly. I disconnected it, and hooked up a vac gauge, 
and at idle the needle is oscillating between 10 & 15 inches of vacuum. 
I think that was the range, I could be mistaken, however it definitely 
was a variation of 5 inches on the gauge. So, I pull the valve cover and 
recheck all the lash adjustments. found 2 that  were a smidgen loose, 
but not terribly. However, that didn't affect the vacuum at all. Is this 
a potential valve problem?

-- 

Marc