Yeah read up on it. At the best you'll see how much vacuum you are pulling, if it is at 12 in HG and you can get 18 out of it for example, you'll know timing is off.
Another thing that takes more time is finding TDC marking dampler wit a paint marker and setting timing with a light. I have also encountered an issue where if you set timing by the specs in an old Chilton manual it wont run as good. Best to go with a standard number like 10 BTDC at idle for example and then dial in total timing.
