40 degrees initial!

If it was mine, I would pull number 1 plug and verify TDC with a piston stop, to confirm the balancer hasn't slipped. That's a lot of initial timing. It could also be that the engine has really low cylinder pressure and simply wants that much. I've never seen one want THAT much initial, but I guess it's possible. I would be checking for "other" issues. Maybe find true TDC with a piston stop and run a compression test and see where the cylinder pressure is.