I have recently inherited this project car from my brother, and have been working on it for about a week. I checked both fuel pumps, changed plugs, wires, cap and rotor. I removed the timing cover and turned the engine by hand, lining up the timing marks to be sure the engine timing is correct. The car starts, and will idle a bit, and even drive, but it is not correct. Yesterday I noticed that the vacuum advance on the distributor does not have a vacuum line hooked up to it. I didn't see one hanging, and there have been many hands in the engine bay, most of them not very knowledgeable. I was hoping that someone here could let me know (or post a pic for extra points) where the line that connects to the distributor originates, so that i can trace it to the end or replace it. I'm working on an 86 Cabriolet, by the way.

 

Try looking around the distributor or in the back close to the firewall for like a check valve. I will try to get you more info on it.