Riddle me this, Batman!

Pics of balancer showing timing tape please.

Don’t static time it at TDC. Time it at whatever you want your initial timing to be. IE 16-18 degrees btdc. Set the balancer to your number. Then move the distributor to line up with number one terminal. If it doesn’t run well there, the tape is wrong, the balancer slipped, or the timing pointer is wrong for the balancer.