I think there is a piece of metal tacked onto the flywheel that determines the timing. When it goes by the pickup coil it tells the coil to fire. So it would be that metal bit in relation to the keyway. Yeah it would be interesting to compare. If you need that plate let me know. I don't think I'd ever need it and I'm sure there's another one on the engine sitting in the woods.

Oh jeez man. Someone should introduce that guy to locktite. Well at least you caught it before something worse happened. I was kinda waiting until you actually experienced problems before telling you this but since you have it apart I may as well tell you those coils of wire should be replaced. After 30-40 years the enamel on the wire cracks causing shorts and the problem manifests as hard starting when hot. You'd really be chasing you tail and scratching your head trying to figure out why it starts fine when cold but won't start at all when hot. At the very minimum you should at least check the resistance and compare it to the service manual, but even that wouldn't give me a lot of confidence. They don't cost much so I'd just replace them. Another thing I noticed is the 230 flywheel has more spark advance than the 250, so I put the 230 flywheel on my 250. No clue why they retarded the timing on the 250. If you have both flywheels then check it out and see if you notice the same thing.