You can rule out timing very simply by bumping initial up to "about" 20 degrees. Your compression is very likely NOT 9:1. Those forged pistons are probably stock replacements and compression is much more likely in the 8.5 range, which means the engine will want about all the initial timing you can give it. A simple test. Start the engine and let it warm up. Loosen the distributor and slowly pull in timing until it stops idling up. Check the initial. This is about where the engine wants to be. That camshaft has been ground by nearly every cam manufacturer in the world. It's a decent grind, there's nothing wrong with it. Are there better grinds? Sure, there are better grinds no matter which one you choose, but you can make it run very well by following some simple tuning advice. I wish you were a little more local, I would give you a hand and probably have it running very good. Try the timing first. It's the easiest to rule out and if it doesn't make a difference, you can put it right back where it was.
