Why so much inital timing???

Too much chaff on this one so maybe I missed it but - OP - What was the intake closing point again? What pistons were used? What carburetor's on it?

Just looked at the cam card. IVC is 39* @ .050". Since advertised duration is 275* and @ .050" duration is 231*, does that mean seat IVC is 61* (275-231/2 + 39)? I recalculated SCR again based on notes in my file. Looks like it's right at 9.7:1. Heads are 65.2cc, Pistons are speed pro L2316 with a -7.5 cc volume and are .015" out of the hole. Gaskets are 521SD felpros with 4.18" bore and .054" compressed thickness for a quench distance of .039".

The carb on it now is a 85670 Holley 670 street avenger. It's on the small side since the throttle bore and venturi sizes are the same as an 1850, but I've also got a 650 proform double pumper with throttle bore and venturi sizes of 1-3/8 and 1-11/16. I've also got an old 4-corner idle 4779 to try as well.