It is easy to test though. At idle you can just turn the distributor in order to try different initial advance points. If he swings it from 20 to 32 degrees and sees a big difference in idle quality and/or engine vacuum then that is a clue.

If the vacuum is a lot better at 20 degrees then the decision has to be made to put an advance curve back in the distributor or just live with the 32 locked for best high speed performance.