Distributor problem
 

Good morning folks. Thursday my poor abused 74 bug had a rough time
making it home from work. Idle was fine, accelerating seemed ok
however steady speed driving (any gear, any speed) and she would
sputter and cough constantly. Friday morning I checked my gap and
timing, they were ok. Took the carb off and did a quick cleaning. A
short test drive around the neighborhood and things seemed back to
normal. However, a short while later on my drive to work I remembered
I had forgotten to connect the vacuum hose from the distributor back
to the carb. I pull over over and connect the hose real quick and ...
ARRRGGHHH same issues as I had before. Worse actually because no
acceleration seems much more crappy. I yanked the vacuum hose off and
continue to work. Without the hose connected the car drives OK. It
feels like it is a a little off on the timing is all. I appreciate any
and all suggestions on how to correct this. Thank you in advance.
(yes the pun is intentional.... distributor... advance... oooh,
nevermind)

Distributor problem
 

Reading through a bunch of distributor threads (and Rob and Dave's
discussions at http://www.vw-resource.com/index.html) I noticed oiling
the distributor was mentioned a number of times. Raking my brain I
could not remember the last time I put oil in there! A few drops of
Marvels Mystery Oil down the shaft (and a few in the bottom of the
distributor because I had too much coffee this morning and my hands
had a bit of a shake) and lo and behold my problem has magically
disappeared! Who would have thought that a 37 year old moving part
would need lubrication every now and then?