36 degrees total is right in the ball park, but what initial are you running? Have you tried limiting the total mechanical advance so you can run more initial timing and still have 36 total?

Does the car gas knock when you have the vacuum advance hooked up at this timing? What is the total timing advance when the vacuum advance is fully advanced? Have you adjusted the allen head inside the vacuum canister before deciding to run without it? It can give you a little better mileage on the road when it's hooked up and dialed in, but it takes some tuning to get it where it won't affect your initial acceleration and octane sensitivity.

You can also remove the vacuum pod entirely and cover the hole in the side of the distributor with a small metal plate.