Low vacuum?

I did some tests with a vacuum gauge on my 97 engine with the 99 intake manifold. It pulls down 14"inHg at idle (700rpm) and the maximum amount of vacuum it will make is 22" upon deceleration at any rpm. Does this sound normal for the newer 97 cam and 99 intake manifold?

That is low. For it to drop that much there are four basic places that can cause a leak of that magnitude. The throttle body to intake manifold gasket, the exhaust/intake gasket, a leaky brake booster, or an EGR valve on an engine equiped with one.

A burnt intake valve can also cause low vacuum at an idle, but that is fairly rare.

I cannot trace or hear any leaks anywhere but I will plug the booster line to eliminate that as a cause. When I first put the distributor in it would not run until the rotor was past the #1 mark at TDC, I had to move it one tooth ahead. Could I have messed up the ignition timing? The needle shows a steady low reading...

You broke law #2 on posting about a problem. You failed to say that you were working on the rig before the problem started. What were you doing before this problem came about? Rule #1 is to state the year, engine, tranny, etc.

1990 XJ AW4/242/4.0
97 Short block/cam
90 Renix head (gasket matched)
90 Renix Distributor/Ignition
99 Intake manifold
95 21lb injectors/rail
95 Exhaust manifold/down pipe

I just installed this motor about a month ago and it just never really impressed me like other stock XJ's I've driven. As far as I know the problem was always there, I just confirmed it with the gauge. When I installed the new timing chain I made sure the marks faced each other with the crank at TDC. As mentioned earlier I couldn't get it to run correctly with the distributor pointed at the #1 mark with the crank at TDC. After I advanced the rotor one tooth on the distributor gear it seemed to run great (I'm driving it daily).

I've a tendancy to pretty much ignore the raw vacuum numbers, unless they are way out of spec. or the compression is low. I sure watch the needle though, does it hold steady or pulse?
The Renix distributor and the associated Renix engine controls, usually have an initial timing with the rotor slightly after the 1 pole on the distributor. Though the initial setup is pretty flexible, you can be off by quite a bit and the Renix ECU will normally adjust. Search indexing distributor, a picture of the proper setup has been posted. Langer posted one not long ago.
You may have a slight intake, engine control program and cam mismatch. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
The OBD 1 cam peaks, a little later than the Renix. One reason for the horsepower improvement.
Your idle number is a little lower than my 96, what is the peak vacuum and at which RPM does it peak, with a steady throttle?
My Renix has a slightly low vacuum, but actually has a broader mid range pull (torque) than my faster 96. The 96 is peakier and has a little better top end pull. Some of it is the difference in the cams (and lesser so, the intake and TB) most of it is in the programming IMO.
My 96 feels a lot faster than my 88, but actually isn't much quicker, from 0-70 or so. Slightly different peak torques and programming.
The TPS has a lot of input into the timing, what TB do you have and how is the TPS set up? To much advance will mess with your vacuum.
Vacuum leaks often show up as a high idle, the IAC and O2 sensor may try to adjust a bit, but it often doesn't take much of a leak to run the idle up.

*Just to update*

I learned from searching:idea: that the trailing edge of the ignition rotor must be .02" from the No.1 distributor cap terminal. Mine was not, so I cut off the distributor hold down tangs and adjusted it accordingly. Performance has improved slightly now that the injector sync is sync'd Vacuum is rock solid at 16" in Hg. I also read that the 99+ intake manifold has a weaker vacuum signal compared to it's older counterpart, so I suppose it's good enough for now.