The ball aligns with the pointer twice, once when the #1 cylinder is in firing position, and again when #6 is ready to fire. You need to be sure and pick the right cylinder to align the distributor with. Put your thumb over the #1 spark plug hole, and bump the starter over until you feel a puff of compression. Then turn the engine over slowly until you see the pointer & ball align, and drop the disttibutor in with the rotor pointing toward the #1 plug wire. With the ball & pointer aligned, turn the distributor housing counterclockwise until the points just barely open and lock it down in that position. The timing should be close enough to start the engine. Warm it up and do a final timing check. BTW, the ball is not TDC, it's about 5 degrees before TDC, where the timing is supposed to be set.
Jerry
