confused - or just a stupid question

One question is did you have the heads milled or check to see how far the pistons are in the hole?-moderate compression is a must have imo for any kind of cam in a small engine and usually a untouched 318 is on the lowside.I agree about the stall and gears-the engine needs to overcome the intial load of the drivetrain and get into its sweet spot.Your on track with timing,14-16 initial w/34-36 total is ballpark and I would check to make sure your not getting any hessitation from the carb,a poorly tuned carb will really ruin the lowend performance.