I am absolutely perplexed. 1982 US automatic. I am going over the engine and doing maintenance. The cars runs and I drove it for a number of miles before getting it up on stands to work on it. Despite some dumb questions, I am very mechanical. I need advice on what I am seeing. I feel like I am in the Twilight Zone.
1) My balancer is blue and has timing markings that are reversed from those on the later cars with orange balancers according to threads I have seen on the subject. The engine rotates clockwise when looking at it from the front, correct? If I am rotating the crank clockwise, why is the 23* mark the LAST mark (of the 4 available) that moves past the timing pointer? Shouldn't it be the first mark? As I understand it, timing should be set at 23* BTD at 3000 rpm with vac lines removed from distributor and plugged. What am I not understanding?
2) I found the tiny v cuts on the backside of the cam gears by pure luck. I have rotated the engine many times to see if the timing marks on the cam gears were matching their index marks on the cam covers when the engine is at an indicated TDC. They NEVER do. They are both in the right spots (although I am guessing the belt is stretched because they are about a half a tooth off from being at exactly the same spot in relation to the index marks), but not at TDC ever. If I rotate the engine to TDC, they don't match the index marks. I have rotated the engine many times and they never match at TDC. Can the balancer slip? (They are known to on my L98 engine in my Corvette.)
3) There are white lines painted on the cam gears about 120* ahead of the v notches (clockwise rotation). What role do they play? I've read about 45* rotation to help get the belt on during replacement. Anyway, they never match the index marks at an indicated TDC either.

 

first you should be able to read the numbers on the damper when looking at the front of the engine,
it if they are upside down then the damper was installed backwards.

The cams wont always line up with the respective hash marks due to belt stretch and wear on the pulleys , they will however be close to their respective marks.

The white paint may be so you can look down the timing cover vent holes to see the cam gears and the timing marks without removing the covers

NOTE the cam gears will line up to the timing marks once for every two revolutions of the crank.

Look for A picture of the timing belt installed to verify that your damper on the right way.

The crank is at TDC when the crank keyway is pointing at 4 O clock while facing the engine,
this can only be seen with the damper removed

 

Wow. So my balancer was installed backwards. Hard to imagine Porsche building it so that could even happen, right? Anyway...If TDC has keyway at about 4 o'clock when at TDC, that explains why there are no timing marks visible when the cam gear notches are matching their index marks. The TDC mark is about 90* behind the keyway when installed backwards. So what kind of damage or effect might there be if the balancer was backwards. Could there be damage to the engine if incorrectly balanced?

 

since you have an early engine no damage,
and you have to figure when the damper was removed it was probably in time,
so the crank keyway was set at 4 O clock , thus only the cams needed to be set to the respective hash marks.

SO take the V belts off then remove the damper,
then flip it around and then set to TDC.


NOTE VERIFY TDC with the crank keyway prior to setting the damper back on.
there have been times when the damper rubber would allow the outer portion to turn,
thus making the marks non usable.

BUT if the crank keyway is at 4 O clock then the timing mark should line up at TDC

 

Greatly appreciated. That solves the whole riddle. Looks like I will need to obtain that flywheel lock and break that nut. Do folks lend that tool? Do I have to buy it? How many foot pounds is that nut...a bit over 200, I think? Guess I'm going to buy myself a 3/4" breaker bar after all. Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

you will need a 27mm deep socket for the crank pulley nut,
use 30mm long bolts for installing the flywheel tool,
if you use the shorter bolts then they will probably rip out,
make sure the bolts dont hit the flywheel ,
you may need to use a washer or two so pre measure the depth .
Its easier to work on the crank with the with the radiator removed,but not necessary,
also remove the fan holding bracket