New z owner need help with timing on top end rebuild!!!

[Billyz32]

Hey guys new z owner here, story goes: I bought a 90 N/A z32 auto (soon to be manual) for $500, here's the kicker it needed a t-belt, so I towed it home and began putting the new one on tried turning it had no compression on 5 cylinders so I expected the valves to be bent went and bought a complete vg30de for a whopping $100 got the heads done resurfaced valve seals etc, but now I'm confused on how to set timing because the machine shop cleaned up the cams I'm at tdc on #1 but which way are the lobes suppose to be facing on intake and exhaust cams on both banks also cyl #5 is up on tdc either on exhaust stroke or comp stroke, sorry for the long post I just wanna cruise in this car already. Thanks

[nissanfreak12]

Timing is set by the cam gears. They have little notches on the outer lip that are supposed to align with bump or dimples on the backing plate. If you are using a new t belt, there should be white lines that aid in the process. NOw here is the kicker, those marks are for reference only. They are not going to be exact, they could be off a little bit, this is why when I stress to count the cogs in between, you count the cogs. This is the only definitive answer if its on correctly.

Go to the main page and look under "everything you need to know about the z32", there will be a factory service manual "FSM" in there. Go off of that, basically step by step. It will also tell you how many cogs are in between each notch. Just make sure you double check everything. If this is the first time doing a timing belt on a car, gt some help. Its not necessarily a hard job, but its definitely not as easy as a SOHC or push rod.

[evildky]

With the heads off, set he crank at tdc#1, there is a notch on the oil pump housing that aligns wiht a dot on the timing gear. Then as nissan freak stated, the cams align wiht the marks on their housings. The thing that I think you are confused about is that the crank turns twice for every rotation of the cams, If the heads are at tdc and the clock is at tde you are good, and unless someone brakes off the indexing tab on the drivers side exhaust cam you can't install the cas 180 out unlike every docudrama car show wiht a sbc.