Your timing is off. Gotta get it right. Get everything ready and set up like below. It's the "one man, no helper" way to do it. The plug hole, the dizzy and the starter button are all right there together on the same side.
MAKE SURE IT"S IN NEUTRAL, NO BEERS YET.
Turning slow by hand and putting thumb in hole is not a real good way unless you have done it 50 times before on other motors. Do the Kleenex with dizzy wire off and push on the starter button with a stick. All plugs out. Dizzy cap off. Watch rotor to see it approaching a position as Kleenex shoots. place cap on to confirm. Rotor may be past the no. 1 by the time you stop cranking. You can do it as many times as you need to be sure. Don't put Kleenex down in hole, it may get sucked in. Ball it up at hole entrance and block hole good. If some sticks out, that's OK. It will blow out like a popped cork.
You still did not explain why you can't see ball. Be specific. Previous owner paint does not tell me. Pretend I'm not there.
