Did you install the distributor this way?
![](http://vvcap.com/img/fJTi8hBIthS.png)
If you did, and still can't set set the timing, the timing chain may not have been installed correctly by whomever rebuilt the engine. Some people just think a t-chain is a chain, and don't pay any attention to the timing marks on a 22r(e), which wouldn't really matter if one side wasn't longer between the marks than the other.
![](http://vvcap.com/img/1xPIGQuVqVs.png)
Did you check the compression?