yes i did degree the cam. i was fine and had 5* of advance built in it. just like the cam card said. i did retard it 2 degrees for a little more top end. the marks line up for the 2 degrees of retard. i used a new crank key and it was at the #1 TDC. i've made the mistake of having it at the #6 TDC before but not this time.
and it's a brand new summit distributor with one of the lightest springs in Morosos advance kit and one of the stock springs with it. i left the weights and bushings because they are brand new. my initial timing is 14 BTDC and total goes to about 36. i've tried backing it off a bit and advancing it a little more too and neither helped. but when i did advance it i could go as much as 50 total with no detonation under load driving what's with that?