So it doesn't matter what way I try to turn the crank? It is fine to turn it either way to just see if I can get it to turn the engine?

 

THAT'S CORRECT.........
make sure car is out of gear, then try to turn the engine manually,, go clockwise , spark plug removed ...engine should spin freely,, If you cannot turn it by hand , ( it locks up,) you got an issue ..
next thing i would do is to remove the timing belt from the cam gear and try to turn the engine by hand again to see if it is a lower or upper part of the engine issue ( most likely if it locks up , will be a lower part )

 

Ok I'm going to try it again(I am pretty sure the car was in gear when I tried it.) Thanks for your help and quick responses!

 

Ok, I got the crank to turn. The only thing is that it will only got about 1 full turn and then it locks up and I can't turn it anymore. I can do this in both directions until the lock comes.. I can make a video if needed. But from reading the past posts this isn't gonna be a good reply.

 

The Helm books usually say not to spin the engine backwards. I always figured it was because the timing belt may skip a tooth if you spin it backwards. I never knew if that was a real plausible danger.

 

I hope not since I have done that back and fourth a couple times! I hope I didn't mess anything up by doing that....but actually what would it matter?? I'm probably going to get it rebuilt in the future when I have the money.

 

I guess I would check the camshaft timing marks after everything else is done, just to convince myself they hadn't skipped.

 

How can/do I do that? How should they be?

 

Maybe getting a bit distracted from the thread's main purpose...

Crankshaft pulley has several notches out at the edge. A group of three (for spark timing) and a single notch (that's the real TDC). You'll need that in a minute...

CAMSHAFT sprocket has an arrow labeled UP. Spin the crankshaft forwards (counterclockwise viewed from left-side of car) until that UP arrow begins approaching upwards direction.

Now watch the CRANKshaft pulley. Continue turning & stop when the single TDC notch lines up with the pointer on the timing cover.

Now look at the camshaft sprocket. The UP arrow is only approximate. The REAL timing marks are little dimples out at the sprocket teeth. They need to line up along the top of the rear cover behind the sprocket. Or maybe it's the machined top of the head, where the valvecover sits.

 

Ok yea..no way I can figure that out lol...btw I really hope that turning the crank BOTH ways didn't hurt anything.....