Timing question

I know I'm asking to many questions but I know you all have the answers.So here it is.I know the rotor should point at the #1 piston with #1 at TDC when dropping in the distibutor.But when I do this I have to advance the distributor to far to get it to run right.The vac advance cannister almost hits the carb..When I pull it out and drop it in a tooth over the rotor points straight forward but then the distributor looks normal,with the vaccum canister in its normal position,and it runs fine.Do you think the cam timing is off or have I missed something?I havent put a timing light on it yet just timed with a vaccum gauge.This damn thing is giving me fits but I know the only way to learn is to have problems.Thanks.

It only has to point to the #1 plug wire. You can arrange them in any order on the cap as long as the firing is correct 18436572

For canister clearance, I recommend between 7 & 8 o'clock position. Looking down at the top of the distributor.

As long as the rotor is pointing at #1 on TDC, just get the timing light out and adjust it to spec.