timing

Has anyone done there timing before? I found a page that shows how to do it but I wanted to hear it from a trusted member on this site. It said that the A needed to be on top below the arrow than some other stuff. If thats corect my is way off there is A B CX and D well the CX is on top under the arrow. So im assuming its off. Any help guys and pcks would be really helpful.

When piston #1 is at TDC the "A" should line up with the arrow. The easiest way to get it TDC is rotate the large pulley until the distributor is pointing to plug wire #1 on the compression stroke. If the "A" on your cam pulley isn't lined up with the arrow, the timing is retarded/advanced. If it's as far off as you explained, your motor shouldn't run. Hope that made sense.