Timing Issue..

[Sooner66]

Hey guys... hoping for some more help from you guys.. atleast to point me in the right direction.. now just a heads up, im not that great with this "timing" stuff.. still learning..

I hooked up a timing light on my 66, now with it running at idle, with the vacuum advance hose pulled off the carb and plugged the hose it show my timing is what i believe way off... the timing tab i have goes from 8 after tdc to 16 before tdc. At idle its way past the 16 before tdc. If i try and bring it in closer to 12 before tdc or any where near it she doesnt like it and tries to die. Isnt the timing suppose to be around 12 before tdc? i dont actually know what its at because like i said the pointer maxes out at 16 and its past that.. it seems to run ok at the setting its at just doesnt seem right to me.. i have tried 2 timing lights same result. The dial style light i have, i had it set to 36 degrees and at idle set at 36 on the dial it points to 0 on the pointer does that mean im 36 degrees at idle? shouldnt it be MAXED at 36? when you rev it up she starts going higher, when i max my dial at 50 it points to 0 when i am holding a steady rpm .. can someone please help me with this issue. i dont know squat about timing apparently..

btw engine is a 350 not sure of internals, does have a cam not sure on size but noticable and has a edelbrock intake and 1405 carb.

Thanks guys and sorry for buggin for help again