Crazy timing, 27 degrees at idle Options

[Gcotton92203]

OK, I'm new to this forum stuff & have absolutely no idea what I'm doing but here goes. Just got a bad running 73 2.0 and found that the only actual problem was burnt and out of adjustment ignition points. I replaced them, dialed in the dwell at 45 and the car ran fine but of course I thought I should recheck the timing. I scratch marked the original position of the distributor before moving it. Vacuum hoses are disconnected and plugged. Can't get the idle below 1100 warm but it idles pretty smoothly so I don't see that as a problem. Here's the kicker. It's showing the timing as already 27 degrees advanced at "IDLE"???? If I set it a 27 degrees at 3500 it is so retarded it just dies at throttle down. So when I have it running & idling good, I have absolutely no idea what the timing and advance really is. The last thing I want to do is damage my engine from improper timing. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks