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Not quite. Both advance the timing.
Basically the weights are held in by the springs, but at fast engine speeds, centrifugal force spins them outward, which turn the top of the distributor in such a way to advance timing. Vacuum advance is to advance timing additionally, especially at partially open throttle positions. In those cases, the engine pulls a large vacuum, resulting in only a small amount of air and fuel, which would not burn efficiently if it were only for the centrifugal weights. Thus, based on engine load (i.e. the vacuum), the distributor is advanced to allow for ideal combustion.
Now back to your original question. Are you saying that your timing keeps advancing, and you need to keep turning the distributor to retard it, or is it the other way around.
You should be checking timing at idle, without any advance. If the springs are weak, they would advance too early and you would get the problem you are describing. If the weights are stuck, you wouldn't see a problem at idle, but you would have a lot less power at WOT.
Another possibility is that your timing belt is off. If it's off a tooth, then it's possible that your distributor would be off, but it would be constantly off by the same amount. You wouldn't get it constantly changing the way you are describing.
Take a look at the weights and springs. I don't know whether you can get those parts separately for your car. You can try swapping the cap for another one to see whether it's any better, or getting a new one all together.
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