1988 ford ranger pickup with overhead cam timming issues

[ald1983]

I have a 1988 Ford Ranger that I bought for cheap. The truck would run but the motor sounded horrible. It would back fire through the exhaust. I check the timming and found that the distributor was a quarter out of turn. When I was in the progress of of checking the timing the timing lobe that is connected to the inner timing cover broke off. So now I dont know where the cam shaft is as far as timing goes. Does anyone know where the cam gear should be pointed toward according to a clock like 1 oclock 2 oclock 3 oclock and so on.........

 

[RickOTR]

#1 piston should be at TDC and int/ext valves should be closed and on the lowest portion of the cam. If the cam is off, just hope it did not bend any valves or put one through a piston(s).