I fired it up last weekend and got it running, but in order for it to idle on it's own, I had to turn the distributor so that the timing is really retarded (maybe as much as 30 degrees, at least according to the timing mark).

I had someone help me find TDC and mark the balancer. Is it possible that when I put the distributor in it was off by a tooth or two? If so, which way do I need to turn it, counter clockwise?