Only runs 40 Degrees advanced

mr65cuda said
I agree I say dot to dot because that is how the manual tells you to line it up. If both darts are at 12 o’clock then it is top dead center for number one. If the darts are at 12 and six then it is at top dead center for cylinder six that is very confusing but I learned that the hard way a few years back. I am thinking eyeballing the top side of number one piston and top dead center on the timing cover and balancer can’t be no more than a couple of degrees out and this problem appears to be 30 or 40° out. If it was possible I would say that Cam is twisted but we all know that’s impossible it would just break like a piece of hard candy

RustyRatRod said
"Dot to dot" is not TDC. It is 180 out, or TDC for #6. TDC for #1 is cam gear dot at 12 and crank gear at 12. So you need to make SURE your distributor is in correctly. Also, have you run a compression test?

Even still, WITHOUT USING A PISTON STOP, you do not know "where you are". Ask me how I know.

Maybe this will make some sense
OP reports it runs at 30 - 40 degrees initial timing, let us assume 35 degrees.
Correct initial timing should be close to 15 degrees.
Camshaft operates at 1/2 crank shaft rpm = .5
The simple math
35-15=20 degrees of crank rotation
20x.5 =10 degrees of cam rotation
10 degrees of cam rotation could easily represent the timing chain has skipped a tooth on the cam sprocket.
In this situation the TDC mark on the balancer would still show to be correct but would give you a false timing condition.
If I am wrong tell me.