8v gti cambelt timing mark confusion

[jezza16v]

Hi all. There seems to be some conflicting timing info out there making me very confused. Lining up the bottom pulley mark with the distributor drive sprocket is common but some info says line up the front dot on the cam pulley with the arrow on the top plastic back cover (web search) and other says line up the mark on the back of the cam pulley with the top of the head (haynes). The two positions are miles apart so I'm wondering which alignment for the cam pulley should be used?

I've done a couple of cambelts on mk2 but always locked it up and put on my own check marks, this is on a stripped engine. (i didn't strip it so i'm starting from scratch.)

Thanks J 

[Simeon]

If it's got a gearbox attached then use the tdc mark on the flywheel. Otherwise, as you say, line the mark on the auxbelt drive pulley with the arrow on the lower cambelt cover, then line the dot on the intermediate shaft up with edge of the aforementioned pulley, then line up the dot on the inside of cam pulley with the top front edge of the head. Distributor should be put in and rotated so that the rotor arm points to the line mark on the distributor, then set timing dynamically once installed

[jezza16v]

OK, good to have that one cleared up. 

Thanks J.