It's not whoohoo, but woah! As Dave points out: DO YOU HAVE FIRE AT THE PLUGS? You will have fire at the plugs regardless to how the distributor is insalled. If you have fire at the plugs, set it up on #1 tdc, and see where the rotor sets. You can check it by pulling a plug and plugging it in a wire.

I know this may sound dubmn, but sometimes people don't do these things. Have you verified that the rotor turns when cranking the engine. Next look at the center contact and make sure that it contacts the center contact of the cap. It can be stupid things such as forgetting to put the center contact of the cap in before installing the coil. If your father is that old time, he might not have realzed that the center contact in the cap must be installed. Also check the assembly of the coil to cap area. In addition it takes a fairly agressive mojo on the wires to get them to bite onto the caps terminals, especailly with new wires, and this one is a super common problem with old school folks who have never been around an hei. Is the modgulator wire shorting out.

If it's 180' out, correct it, but make sure that it's 180' before tearing it apart. One thing that concerns me is your comment about the reversal of a Pontiac. Maybe I misinterperated that you misinterpertated and are saying that you told your father that it is reversed from a chevy. Let's keep it clear and simple because it doesn't matter what other engines do: The distributor turns counterclockwise.