If you set the crank at 40* BTDC and turn the rotor so you have taken up the advance, and line up the rotor with the number 1 post, that's exactly (or pretty dam close) where it should be.
OP, it needs at the very minimum the total timing on it you think it will run at. I never, ever start a fresh engine with OE geometry with less than 40 on it. They start better and don't generate a bunch of heat in the exhaust.
