Diagnosing stuck distributor advance on '47 H

I've got the distributor disassembled - down to the plate on the distrubutor shaft that supports the weights and the weights themselves. The springs and weights look relatively new - rust is definately not the problem. When I move the weights out to engage the cam, they only move about 1/8" and the distributor shaft, after the cam engages, only rotates about 2 or 3 degrees. It looks like the weights should be able to move out all the way to the wall of the distributor housing and that would give the shaft the full advance rotation.

I just took off one of the weights and didn't find any 'Weight arm spacer's shown in I&T's exploded view. There are tiny washers on top of the weight - between the weight and where the spring hooks on. Are these the spacers and should they be on the other side - between the plate and the weight?

It just feels like something is catching and not letting the weights spin out to the fully advanced position. I'm trying to get to be able to do that manually before I put it back together. TIA

One side of body: 52
Other side of body: 353898R1
Side of flange where the distributor clamps clamp: HC5-757925

I'm used to a distributor where the plate revolves to advance with the greater RPM. I'm not getting the advance at the higher RPM (shown via the strobe timing light) but I'm not seeing how the weights are supposed to cause this advance.

Is this view (from the TC-26E A and B parts catalog, on the Cub Collector's Site) similar to yours, or do you have an aftermarket distributor?