I realize you said you weren't going to run the vacuum advance, but are you shooting the timing with the vac advance connected?
It's supposed to be disconnected while you set the initial timing.

Barring that, set the initial with the engine stopped.

I encourage you to run vacuum advance.
Without, you'll more than likely overheat in summer traffic and during long periods of idling.

Do a search for an article posted a while back.
Titled, "Got Time?"
It may help you understand where you're at and where you're going.