If you have the motor at TDC to fire on #1, the two rocker arms on #1 will be at their maximum clearanc and you can feel that by wiggling them. The exhaust valve on # 6 will have lots of clearance and the intake will be tight and atrting to open.
You can't set your timing precisely by where the rotor points. You need to have the points just opening at Upper Dead Centre on the flywheel. You said that you tried moving the distributor to fire just before. That would be advancing the timing. If the timing is too advanced, it can stop the starter dead. When you are close to starting, you will here the starter speed up as the engine is helping it out.
