(1)#1 plug is at the front of the engine.
(2) Sounds like the distributor might be set wrong. To check remove all spark plugs. Hold your finger over the front plug hole and turn the engine by hand. When your finger is blown off the hole by the pressure, you are near the top dead center for #1. Your timing ball should be close to the pointer in the hole, and if you remove the distributor cap the rotor should be pointing the #1 spark plug hole.
(3) Sounds like a vacuum leak. Could be either a loose hose or a manifold leak. How did the engine idle before you rebuilt the carb?
(4) Don't worry about it. Todays gasoline probably won't ping in one of these old gals.
I would recommend you get a vacuum gauge. Great tool for diagnostics, I hook it up to the manifold tap for the wipers. Cost is around $15. Follow the link for instructions
Vacuum gauge tuning There should also be instructions with the gauge, but the webpage is nice. When tuning one of the stock sixes, I don't even mess with a timing light, I set the timing with the vacuum gauge. And even if your distributor is not correctly positioned, the gauge doesn't care.
Then you don't have to change the distributor.
