I'm replacing the timing belt on my daughter's new to her 245. I removed the #1 spark plug and placed a dowel into the opening and slowly rotated the cam gear to watch the dowel desend and come back up to its peak letting me know that I'm at TDC. Well the dowel never moved, but looking through the oil fill opening, the cam is rotating as I turn the gear by hand. Using this visual method, the lobe of the cam right under the opening, is that #1 and is it at TDC when it pointing up or down or am I looking at the wrong thing. I did replace all 3 oil seals behind the TB cover. What am I missing here?

Thanks.
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I feel like such a nitwit. I was turning the cam sprocket and not the crank. I've been working on this car for going on 2 full weekends and I think my brain is getting fried a little. Thanks for pouring ice water over my head.
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If the pistons didn't move while you rotated the camshaft, you probably shredded the teeth off the timing belt down where they contact the belt's pulley on the crankshaft. You need to replace the belt by bringing the crankshaft to TDC on No.1 cylinder. Easy if you remove the spark plugs, and put a socket on the bolt on the front of the crank. Now line up the crank, cam and intermediate shaft timing marks, then get the belt over all three pulleys without moving anything.

Detailed procedure is in the 700/900 FAQ's.

The timing mark on the cam pulley is the best way to get the cam lined up, but once the belt is properly installed you can check if No.1 is at TDC on its compression stroke by looking at the cam lobes for that cyl. As Dan says, they will both be pointing upward - not straight up, but upward at about the same angle.
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Bob: son's 81-GL, dtr's '94-940, my 83-DL, 89-745(V8) and 98-S90. Also 77-MGB and some old motorcycles.

What, no timing marks????

You should be rotating the crankshaft to get the piston at the top.

The first 2 valves should be closed at TDC, the lobes are visible, either pointing up or out.
Dan

What Valves 1 & 2 (on cylinder 1) look like at TDC when doing the rope trick for a timing belt job. Taken through the oil fill cap, #1 is closest to front of engine.

I did my timing belt about a month ago. this pic is not the best, but it shows what the valves should look like at TDC.
Enjoy! You'll be satisfied when you're done.
K