An advance / retard timing drive has more than one keyway on the crank sprocket. Many old school had 3 keys, modern once can have 6? Anyhow you pick how far you want to move the cam and then use the mark that goes with the key. These are easy to screw up
A new engine should not be hard to fire. I would be starting from page 1 and check everything. It needs compression, cam in time, spark in time, GOOD fuel and a good battery and starter. Something is wrong I would be checking cam timing or valve settings. At the very least you should get pops/ backfires etc
