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Thinking this mallory distributor is crap like Rick Ehrenberg says,timing is erratic.

Frustrated...

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Blaming the distributor manufacturer is like blaming anything that was not installed or applied correctly. IE: Holley, Carter, Edelbrock, Rochester, Carburetors are all Junk because I could not get it to work out of the box and someone agreed with me.
When modifying things (installing aftermarket parts), to be successful it takes more than buying the part to understand how it will work in your application. There are a ton of variables involved none of which the manufacturer can be blamed for if the end user does not understand and adjust it to his application. NO Offense meant to you but if we are going to help solve the problem you are describing it may require some effort / learning on your part.
STEP 1. Get a good timing light and find out if the advance "Curves" are stable below 1500-2000 RPM. (Both Vacuum and mechanical). I say this as this, IMO is your most likely candidate based on the description. Again not trying to be a smart a-- or offensive just HELPFUL. Once it is established that the advance curves are not bouncing around we can them move onto other possibilities.