Whoh, thats way too much!
Base timing should be around 6 degrees without vac.  Add about 10 with vac.  That opens the door to the 30 additional degrees vac advance at 2500.  There should be a small bushing where the vac advance connects to the advance plate in the distributor that limits the total advance  All in at 3500 should be in the 35 degree range.
Now, its possible the rubber has slipped in the balancer, showing the wrong advance, or you are looking at the wrong mark, but either way, there is WAY too much vac included advance.

To answer a couple of questions:
The car has been sitting for way too long, in total almost 20 years.  It has been started periodically but not in the past year for a number of reasons.  I have used Stabil but apparently it didnt do any good.  I blame most of the problems on the Ethanol in the fuel.
The carb is a zero mile, 2 year old Holley Street Demon I bought from the Holley store.  It has been run and it ran very well the last time I started it.  I promptly went out in our pasture and did do-nuts until the cows stopped me (those curious enough to care).  Since I tore it apart, I seriously doubt Holley would make any effort to warranty it for me, plus the tar in the inside meets the "proper fuel required" exclusion.  Right now, its soaking in cleaner.  I will try and straighten the top cover gasket.  For what its worth, it looks EXACTLY like the one in this video: https://youtu.be/8zwXzway1JQ at the 9:40 minute mark.  Even the floats were really out of wack, almost 3/8" different between them.

I'll accept a good used tank if its available within a reasonable driving distance of New Braunfels.

Our Long Neglected 66 Coupe gas tank has decided its no good.  I was trying to get it started the other day and no fuel was going to the fuel pump, and what dripped out smelled far worse than a refinery.  I pulled the fuel filler neck and what was inside resembled road tar, turpentine, varnish and cow drippings.

I removed the tank and drained what was left and tried to clean the tank but gave up.  I'm not a fan of boiling a tank and decided to find a decent replacement.

Besides the tank, the fuel sender is toast along with what I suspect is the entire fuel line and fuel pump.  The carb is also ruined  (almost new Holley Street Demon).  Upon disassembly, the floats were not adjusted correctly and the gasket was not in line with the bowl (a common problem with this carb).  The whole inside was tarred brown and gummy.  I may try and resurrect it.

One step forward, a dozen backwards.

So, I'm looking for a gas tank and sender in the Central Texas/ New Braunfels area.  Any suggestions?

This is our long neglected 66 Coupe we purchased at a car show in 1998.  It was a father and son high school project, or I guess, it was supposed to be.  Once we got it home, almost everything that was supposed to be new was not or improperly installed.  This includes brake shoes (all primary on one side and secondary on the other), ball joints not properly installed, alternator mis-wired resulting in an underhood fire, u-joints, shocks, and 4 different tires on 3 different width rims.  Somewhere down the road someone tried to do a cowl patch and drilled a bunch of 1/2" holes and put metal plates over the holes, then bondo on top of that.
Some basics on the car.  Built in San Jose, it is a 289 C-code that has had the Edelbrock Street Performer intake and cam kit and at one time had the Edelbrock 4bbl carb (now a Holley Demon).  It is backed by a Green Dot C-4.
Since we got it, a pecan tree drop a nice limb on the hood and roof which prompted me to do the long term repairs.
So far, I have the Mustang Plus Grab-A-Track suspension, springs, shocks, and Scarebird brakes.  I'm still sorting out the hydraulics.
Plans are to get it back on the street soon (!) and upgrade the interior.
For some reason, this is all TinyPic would allow.  It uploaded multiple images then quit.

Just remember that these brackets get most of the braking stress forces and the full brunt of a pothole or curb hit.  Make them as strong as you can, then a bit stronger.  I dont mean to be critical and I can't see your other welds, but hopefully these are tack welds.

Harbor Freight quality is really pretty good.  Most of my tool purchases today are from HF, including the drill bits and the taper drills.  They last as long as the much more expensive brands at the orange box store.

Maybe I missed something, but I thought they recently found the original in Mexico?

I've resealed doxens of power steering pumps, its not that hard.  The single biggest culprit is when people pry against the can instead of the pump body near the pulley.  The pry effort frequently distorts the can near the front where the o-ring seal is.  Any distortion cannot or is extremely difficult to straighten.  The o-ring fits around the cast iron pump and the can seals directly around the o-ring.  There is no pressure in the can but hot power steering fluid is thinner than water and can seep out.
The second most common source of leaks is the front seal followed by the pressure outlet nut/pressure regulator fitting.

I'm finally getting around to reassembling our Long Neglected 66 Coupe, after being apart for almost 20 years.  I tore it down to repair a rusted cowl and wound up doing a full Mustang Plus suspension upgrade and body paint.  Point to note is that the car was on jack stands for most of the 18 years, located at the rear axle and front crossmember.

All of the sheet metal is original with the exception of the drivers door which was replaced sometime in the long past.  The car HAS been apart at one time for some reason, probably prior body work which MAY have included an attempt at cowl repair, I found way too much seam sealer in weird areas.  Being that it is near 50 years old, I'm surprised there wasnt more rust or collision repair.

As the photos show, there is an gap at the drivers fender to door, all the other gaps line up ok.
Drivers side fender gap to door.
The bottom of the door to fender gap is ok, as is the gap along the door bottom and rear.

The drivers door gap at the rear is ok too.


As a comparison, the right fender to door gap is ok.
Now, I feel I know what the general consensus will be, that the body is high center sprung causing the body to bow.  It has never had any support in the "A" pillar area for more than a few minutes, at least not in the past 20 years.  It has not been wrecked more than superficial parking lot damage and I really dont remember this gap when I tore the body down, but again, it was 18 years ago.  The only thing that I think MAY have any relation is I installed frame stiffeners but that is towards the center and rear.

Perplexed

Some of the heavy duty vehicle recovery teams use a bag to upright a vehicle.  The bag only uses a couple of psi of air to inflate.  Many years ago, popular mechanics featured a bag was that connected to a tailpipe that would lift a vehicle.  It depends on the surface area under the lift which will determine the amount of air pressure.

As a young mechanics apprentice in the late 1960's, I worked in a garage across the street from a large commercial truck tire shop.  I saw the aftermath of a split rim explosion.  One of the seasoned tire changers was filling the rim from the back side, supposedly to prevent being hit if the rim lip came loose.  Remember those long tire air inflator tools with an air chuck on both sides?
I guess he never heard of Issac Newton.
The rim split loose and the big part tore off his right arm and most of his rib cage was crushed.  He lasted a couple of days and never lost consciousness.  He was wide awake when the ambulance took him away.
The very next week, someone was changing coil springs on a truck without a spring compressor and it tore him in half.  He didnt survive.  The cinderblock wall on one end of the shop was holed about 8' across.

If it sat for that long, I would be concerned about any remaining oil coating on the cam and lifter faces.  The cam surfaces lubricate from crank throwoff and I suspect it has all drained by now.  If nothing else, follow TKO and MS recommendations about priming and inspect the springs, then back off the rocker arms to unload the lifters from the cam.  Spin the engine so any lube from the crank will reach the camshaft.

The pan will hold a couple of quarts but when you drop it, the torque converter will also tend to drain a bit.  A total fluid fill is somewhere in the 8 to 10 quart range.  I wouldnt be surprised if it held close to 4, maybe a bit more.  Check for leaks at the modulator, the shifter and kickdown shaft seals, the speedo adapter o-ring, and the dipstick o-ring, they are all very common leak points, often mistaken for front seal leaks.