Yep, a lot of us are on both this site and the PY site!
On the timing issue, don't turn the distributor until the car won't crank, that's not the right way to "set it by ear". The right way is with the engine idling and warmed up, turn (advance) the distributor until you get the highest idle. When you hear the engine start to miss, you went a little too far, back it off a bit. You want the highest idle without the engine missing.
This does NOT address overall timing, curve, weights, springs, etc, but it should get you close to best timing at idle. Try that and see if you temp comes down further. Don't worry if you've advanced it so far that the car won't start, just see what happens to your temps at idle.
If your temp comes down, then you need to get a vacuum advance distributor. The vacuum advance will allow you to have low timing (8-12 degrees at idle), and the vacuum advance will advance the timing to 20-30 degrees at idle to keep the engine running cool.
