You can do that too as it rotates and is only held in place with a simple metal link. Either way, its the same thing and only has to move a little to make a large difference.
How did you decide on how much of an adjustment to make, keep moving the rotor more until you were able to get the timing you wanted without breakup/power loss? I know you tried the msd rotor with no luck, care to share what the issues were?