Wow that sounds fun!! I have never done a chain with both sprockets at 12:00..??Knee jerk reaction would be that the cam is really on the exhaust stroke??  which valve starts to move when you trun the crank a little..(clockwise)I bet the exhaust valve moves..if not I had a long last night and a long day!!!The brain has been off since friday around noon!!The race way is to use a degree wheel..lot a work and not really needed for a driver that doesn't have an adjustable cam gear!!

Rich,
I remember a post where there was and is still an ongoing question about where the timing marks should be. http://www.c3vr.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=78597&OB=DESC
This is the link to the discussion. Let many others here I also always make marks at 12 and 6. Interesting conversation in these posts!
Rodney

when you go for a new oil pan gasket; the one piece Felpro's work great.

Re: the debate about 12/12 or 12/6: In the other thread someone came to the conclusion that it doesn't really matter -- either one works.  If both of mine were at 12:00 and I rotated the cam to 6:00, #1 is still on TDC, but it would simply "change" to the exhaust stroke from the compression stroke. (And I am sure it was on compression when I took everything apart) It becomes more complicated for me, though, as my distributor (and manifold) is out as well.  If I rotated my cam 180 degrees now, I would have to install the dist exactly 180 out when I put it back in.  So I'm going to line up the new timing set with a straightedge as Joel says and hope I get it right.  If the distributor were in, rotating the cam would take care of rotating the dist and everything would be fine.  Anyway....

Yep, already got the one piece Felpro - seems like it'll be a lot easier than the older four piece things...

Well its Tuesday morning! I would replace the pump if you have it taken apart as far as you do..when you pick up the pump see if it has that plastic line up collar for the pump to shaft..those do fall apart at times...and a pump gasket..maybe since this is so far apart you could do the plugs and wires like Ebo! Is that gasket a neoprene style or cork..oil pan gasket? Cork worked good if you glue it on with that black airplane glue.. I like the neoprene though..I will let the gear thing die because it really doesn't matter unless you are trying to line up the distributor.
Rich

I think my original pump still has the collar (there's an orange sleeve thing on the shaft) but I'll probably get all new stuff.  Plugs and wires should be OK now, but I do agree having all this stuff off would make that job much easier.  The one piece Felpro is not cork and I don't think it's neoprene, either.  It's a blue rubber material on the outside, but it has some type of rigid spine inside.  The bolt holes have metal reinforcements.  I've talked with a few folks now that recommend them.  

Back to the 12/6 debate.  If you do not remove your distributor, it doesn't matter at all which way you line up the marks.  The cam runs a half the crank speed, and the distributor runs off the cam.  It is correct that if you put the cam at 12:00, #1 will be on the top of the exhaust stroke rather than the firing position, but the distributor has turned with it, so # 6 will be firing.  The only time you need think about firing is if you take out the distributor, in which case you need to start over and turn the engine to #1 firing before reinstalling the distributor.

Larry

I agree, but my distributor IS out.