Have I stumped the experts?

[Steve R]

Trularin,
Great advice. I would only ad that you don't need to remove the valve cover.
1. Remove the spark plugs from the engine. 2. place your finger over the #1 spark plug hole
3. have friend turn engine in normal direction of rotation with a wrench until you feel pressure in the cyl with your finger. =
compression stroke.
Steve

[Steve Vague]

See new topic, "...and the winner is" for resolution here. For Archives, marks were 180 away from large hash mark under surface rust, balancer was good.
Steve

[sharpe 1]

If this was my engine I would drop the oil pan or pull a head and dial the engine in using a dial indicator. Engines cost alot of money to build and alot more if you break it because of a check you did not do.
my thoughts