Take out number one spark plug and hold fa inger over rthe hole and slowly turn the engine over by bumping the relat terminals till you feel compression coming out. STOP and very slowly proceed to TDC. You are now at TDC compression, install the intermiete shaft with the slot parralell with engine center line. Intall the distributor with the rotor pointing forward and take note of which terminal in the cap it is pointing to and install number one plug wire in that terminal and follow the firing order around the cap.
No the cam degree has nothing to do with the damper marking..