Won't start

LOL re: hillbilly timing tape. My timing light is a dial-back type, so I can check that this evening. But why would my advance be at 30-36 degrees without the vcan? Shouldn't it only advance with the vcan to give me total advance in that range? I guess I'm not understanding its purpose.

The 6 inches of vacuum was tested at idle on the vacuum port from the carb to the distributor (I plugged my gauge into the line to the distributor). Assuming I have an adapter, I'll try to get a reading from the manifold directly...