Type IV Static Engine Timing?, Stuck in the middle of my rebuild Options

[ThinAir]

I'm really paranoid about making sure I get everything right as a rebuild this engine so after I got the rocker arms bolted down I double-checked the timing. It was quite clear that I'd somehow gotten the distributor shaft off by 90 degrees and I figured that I knew which direction to rotate it so I did.

As I've checked things again, I'm just not sure that I'm not 180 degrees out now that I've repositioned it.

My confusion comes because both 1 & 3 are at TDC when the "0" on the fan is lined up with the case split. Both sets of valves look to me like they are closed at this point, but that doesn't seem right.

So how can I tell from the position of other valves whether #1 is at TDC and on the compression stroke? I know this just got discussed in another thread, but when it came down to actually doing it on the engine it just didn't seem as clear as I expected it to be.

[Dr. Roger]

Before i fire up a newly assembled engine, i like to get the #1 cylinder at TDC. use the degreed pulley to get it right on. pop the dist cap to verify that the rotor is pointing towards the center/front of the case. then stick a volt/ohm meter on the distributor. the positive on the points and the ground to ground. fine tune the point at which the spark plug fires by slowly twisting the distributor a little to the left and right. Watching the ohm meter tells me exacty when the sparkplug fires because as soon as the points come apart, the plug fires.
works every time.
any questions, feel free to ask.
best regards.