Ok - the back story - big engine fire, top part of engine toast, got
parts from another list member, now working on reassembly.

Ok, so that is out of the way.  Now, I have to assume that the vacuum
advance on the distributor is toasted, and quite possibly the plate
itself might be warped a little from the fire.  So I am going to
replace the distributor.  Now, I have read the John Muir book, and
the Bentley, and both are surprisingly little help.  Bentley simply
said get the engine to TDC and then put the distributor in, as if any
vaguely trained monkey could find TDC.  Muir offers a little more
help, but does not seem to translate too well to a Vanagon.

So - any tips here?  I don't sen a timing scale anywhere, and have
yet to find any sort of timing notch, although I suspect one might be
on the pulley I can sorta see through the dome-shaped grill that
protects the v-belt.  Also, I don't see where I am supposed to be
able to slip a wrench on and crank the engine around by hand
either.   Any help on this would be appreciated.

Thanks,

David.