[Ed Wright]

Might try turning the distributor until the rotor is aligned with the cap correctly, then useing a hand held vacuum pump on the vacuum advance until the timing light shows 36 degrees. Make a note of the vacuum required to get 36 degrees. Shut it down, pull the vacuum advance, pull that much vacuum on it, and tack weld it in that position. Put it back on the distributor and recheck the timing and rotor/cap indexing. If it checks out, pull the vacuum advance back off, finish weld it, and cut the vacuum chamber off if you want. Might be worth a try.