How can I tell how loose the timing chain is?What I do is pull the plugs, get a breaker bar on the crank bolt, turn the engine till the timing marks show on the balancer, I stick a small, long screw driver into the #1 spark plug hole and you'll feel the piston rise, when it stops the balancer should be at or near TDC, you can move the crank back and forth to determine the point when the piston stops, you can also tell how loose your timing chain is. Most even at 100k are still pretty tight, use the chisel to score a mark on the distributor flange and the pad on the block, I also score a mark after I set the timing, my car likes 13*.
What is the pad on the block?