[Ptero]

Charlie, no way can you get mileage like that. Pull the cap of the distributor and suck on the spark advance vacuum hose. Is it moving or is it stuck? That could be part of the problem. Are the points fried. Do they even open?

But looking at your engine compartment, I suspect you are pumping raw gas into that engine because of mal-adjustment, wrong carburator, vacuum leaks or improper vacuum routing, and/or a sticking float. Something is seriously wrong with your carb system. You need to fix that first. Start by rebuilding the carb. Replace your fuel filters - there might be one you havent found so trace back to the gas tank.

Toss that too-small aircleaner and go to a junkyard and get an OEM air cleaner and hook it up properly so that it routes warm air from the exhaust manifold into the intake when it starts up, like it's designed to do. Find a vacuum diagram and route your hoses back the way they were originally. I bet you're sucking air into the intake manifold through a misrouted hose and trying to make up the power loss by running way over-rich. I've seen it a million times. Really hard on the pistons and rings. You can find vacuum leaks with starting fluid if you don't catch on fire. The engine will tip you off by running faster.

If you have a mechanical, crankcase-mounted fuel pump, be sure also to check that the pump isn't leaking gas into the crankcase through a torn diaphram. Your oil will smell like gas and if you blow into the line from the carb to the fuel pump, you will hear air hissing at the pump. If you drive a car with a leaking fuel pump, you can thin the oil to the point of seizing the engine and burning the car up. Literally.