I've been building motors for about 10 years. Mostly chevy stuff with a few model A Fords in there. I'm a bit gun shy in this situation because the 1965 TR4 ran stellar. I only pulled the motor to fix the oil leak and replace the clutch. I left the head on and pistons in. Had to pull the crank because of a broken dog bolt in the snout. It's all going back together now only I can't see to understand the marks and set up for putting the timing gears and chain all back in sync. It sees to say put the motor at top dead center (cotter key down) and the dot on the can gear at 11 o'clock. Well there's two dots. One on the gear and one on the front of the cam. They are in the same area but not real real close to each other. Maybe one at 11 and the other at 10:30.
My question is when I put the crank at TDC and the cam at around 11 o'clock, it seems that there would be a few teeth where it would all fit but could still be off by a couple. These motors have a large dwell cycle so the piston is at TDC for a good amount of time and where exactly does the **** cam need to be? Just before opening of the intake valve? I should have just drawn a sharpie line when I took the gears off. I really don't want to take the head off and degree the cam. Is that the only way?
My question is when I put the crank at TDC and the cam at around 11 o'clock, it seems that there would be a few teeth where it would all fit but could still be off by a couple. These motors have a large dwell cycle so the piston is at TDC for a good amount of time and where exactly does the **** cam need to be? Just before opening of the intake valve? I should have just drawn a sharpie line when I took the gears off. I really don't want to take the head off and degree the cam. Is that the only way?