What matters is total timing without vacuum advance. That is how much timing the motor sees once all the mechanical advance is in, depending on how strong or light the springs are on the dist weights it could be under 3,000 rpms to over 4,000 rpms.
Get some timing tape for your engine--the speed shops sell it--and place it on the balancer, zero is mark for you, scrip a white line at 34 degrees. I like using ear muffs for gun shooting and be careful on the fan no timing wires get caught on it. Get your timing light and with one hand rev the motor up while watching the timing marks advance--be sure to unhook the vacuum can. You might have to really scream the motor until the marks stop advancing, that is your total timing.
Set it for 34 degrees and see how if feels, might need 36, 37 but if too much the motor could be damage.
You can even hear the motor speed up when backing the timing off from 34 degrees and it stop reving up once pass 34-36, maybe at the most 38 degrees. This is called timing by ear which works pretty good if you don't have a timing light.
The dist springs are a whole nother story. You want to quickest advance without the motor pinging. Depends on the motor compression and gear ratio in back. Google "timing a motor".
