Is 32 degrees in by 2800 rpm alright for best performance? 15 initial with 17 mechanical and then I've got a 10 degree vac can which gives me 42 degrees with the can hooked up. The old points distributor was 15 initial with 23 mechanical in by 2700 and the vac can on that gave me 14 more degrees which was 52 with the can hooked up.
How important is it to get 36 degrees and would I need to change weights and springs to get it? Or am OK where I'm at? I did regap the Autolite 25 plugs to .045 and added some Taylor Spiral Pro's and I did notice a smoother idle and the timing doesn't fluctuate at all as it did with the points dist. at idle.

You are really going to want to be able to hit 36 degrees total timing. When I first built my motor, I started out at 32. Going to 36 made quite a difference.

Mike

Does that mean lighter springs, weights or more initial? So I'm definately missing out on some performance? Seat of the pants seemed a little more sluggish than the points but I realize seat of the pants is not very accurate sometimes.

Go with as much initial as you can stand. You'll get a more crisp throttle response with plenty of initial timing, and as it advances to your max advance, it'll keep pulling strongly.

I've run as high as 20 initial and 34 total with my Vortecs. Yes, that's with only 14 degrees of mechanical advance. It took me a while, but I finally figured out why so many of the performance advance weights only allow 14 or so degrees of additional advance.

Give it a try if you can. You may like it.

How will I know when I've got too much initial? Is there a risk of damaging engine parts, detonation or hard starting? thanks

Hard starting is too much advance. Usually shows up when the engine is hot. You might want to hook the VA to manifold vacuum. That will give you 25º at idle and shouldn't affect starting. Some time back, I had an engine dynoed. Going from 34º to 37º total added 27 HP. That's like a cam change.