[ERA Chas]

I suspected as much. Don't contact him-you didn't get the truth when you gave him money; why should he square with you now?
And yes you can change timing and wake that thing up. Being 'happy with the power you have' is not a reason to have an inefficient engine Lou.
Bump the initial to 12 as a start with 36 total and test. If it likes it, go up 2 degrees at a time until it's hard to crank. If it runs-on, kill it with clutch pedal.
If you're unable to do this work, take it to a local dyno-tuner and have them put the correct curve in the distributor-all in by 2600 or so.
It will respond MUCH better but not make so much power to scare you-and you'll get better mpg as a bonus.