18 rg timing chain replacement ,no marks

[Suavemechanic]

hi , doing a freshen up on the 18 rg and bought some new chains
consulting the manual last night there are some marked links on the standard chain to line up on the timing marks
my new chain is aftermarket and has only one shiny link
bottom one is straight forward and looks to be a 50/50 split ( ? )
top one seems to have a long side and a short ......
no worries ill match it to my old chain
sadly also only equipped with one shiny link
for really good reasons i wont go into the motor was not pulled down at no 1 tdc
but i did zip tie the cam gears to the top chain so can count links across the top between the cams
any one have a spare chain they can count the distance between links on ?
thanks

[thechuckster]

line crank up at 0TDC (with dizzi rotor pointing somewhere close to #1), fit chain, set cams at TDC#1, fit upper cogs/pins, done?

Do you have the timing cover on or off?

[Suavemechanic]

recon head,hone,bearings,rings ,cover off new gears etc
new information
bottom chain is equal no of links apart so that s easy
top one has marks at the crank,one at 17 links and one at 27 ( counting clock wise from crank mark )
if you get this wrong you will be bending valves in about 6 revolutions
have some photos i can put up if any one is interested

[Omegaman]

Basically, at this stage i think you should leave the chain links and look at the crank, to be at TDC and the dizzy drive shaft to be aligned. Then the cams to TDC. The after market chains usually only have the joining link as a guide.

I recon, do crank and dizzy chains 1st. rotate, checking tensioner. if all good and after a few rotations still lign up to TDC, go to head/cams to TDC.