troulbe setting timing-HELP!

Could be quite a few things. Let's start at the beginning. Did you degree the cam shaft when you installed it? If so did you go by the specs on the cam card? So your damper does not have a timing mark on it? You could still find TDC with the heads installed if you use a piston stop. At least you could scribe a mark on there and have some kind of reference so you can properly time the engine.