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Ok, so I'm reading on all the instructionals and how-to's on head gaskets and timing belts. But how do you do both in the same shot? I'm guessing the head gasket has to be done first, but then how do you make the engine at TDC for #1 and leave it there (I guess with the head off it's easy enough to tell, but I could be wrong), and then make the head at TDC for #1 after the fact?
I'm going to be redoing all of the seals, gaskets, and grommets in the head as well, so just setting the whole thing to TDC and leaving it that way while it's off of the block is out of the question. Is there a way to tell visually?
Thanks

 
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errr? you can tell by the crank pulley and camshaft pulley. the head has to be in alignment also not just the block. Redo the seals and head gasket first, then get it all put back together and torqued right. then find tdc and align both right then slip timing belt on. if you try to cut corners, you better look for a replacement motor

 
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Easy, look down at the cam shaft lobes. www.ericthecarguy.com has a video on valve adjustments that covers when the motor is at TDC by looking down to the cam shaft.

 
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There's a mark on the cam gear. #1 TDC is straight up. Put the motor at TDC before you take the timing belt off and then dont mess with the bottom end once you do that. If it moves on you anyways, then the keyway on the crankshaft faces straight up when #1 is at TDC, or you can line up the mark on the pulley with the mark on the oil pump.

 
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Thanks all, but I ended up having to take it to a shop to get it all done. I took the head in to a machinist to make sure the head was still good before I put it back on. It was toast, the tapping that I assumed was bad valve adjustments was actually the cam rattling around in the journals, the cam and the head had worn themselves to crap. I'm wondering though, how do I prevent this from happening in the future? I'm assuming it's either from bad oil circulation to the top end or the PO didn't change his oil as often as he should have. Since my cluster doesn't have an oil pressure gauge, how will I know (besides toasting another head/cam)?

Fortunately the machinist had a buddy down at another shop who was replacing another honda's engine that happened to have a head that matched- a couple of the valves were bent, but the casting and the cam were still perfect (they looked like they had just seen the acid bath recently, too- nice and clean), so he's combining my valves with this new head (with a little machining to make sure it's all snug) and another shop around the corner is going to put it all together. I saved a ton on buying all the seals/parts on the interwebs, and since I took the head off myself, he's only charging me a fraction of the labor cost.
I think from now on, anything below the valve cover gasket, I'll just leave to the more experienced, 'cause they'll end up with it anyway.