It does sound like the timing is out. If the smoke is coming from the pushrod area, it is blowby. Normally when trying to start one of these after a long time, you will hear the odd firing, and by itslef it sounds like a muffled explosion. As you make progress, the engine will turn faster as the firings start to assist the starter.
The starter imposes a huge current draw on the battery, especially on the 6 v system. One trick I sometimes use is to power the coil from a separate source so that it is not compromised by the draw on the battery.
