Rep Power: 0

hey all,
sorry i know this is a Honda Forum, and i am familiar with it and using it for many references with my 7th Gen Vic, but can find any live Acura Forums, and it's generally a question that is standard with all cars. Anyways....

i just bought a 1990 Acura Legend V6 5 Speed Coupe, and it has a broken Water Pump so i will be replacing this as well as the timing belt while im in there. anyways, i understand most of the timing belt procedures but am a little confused with the Top Dead Center Portion....

i understand that every car is different but just looking to understand the basics of Top Dead Center. what lines up with what, what pulley turns wat, etc...i was told that the distributor must also be timed right? how would i do that?

what i do understand is that the piston must be at the top of it's compression stroke, and i can stick a wet paper towel into the #1 cylinder and crank til it shoots out( to verify Compression Stroke), put a pencil/screw driver in there and turn til it's at its highest point (verifiying its on the piston is on it's way up and at the top),

but do i also have to "test" for the valves to make sure both are close? how can i do this and what crank is it? also what is the best and easiest way for me to find TDC and be accurate? i do not want end up with valve damage and i really dont have the money to have a shop do it. got the car for really cheap and wanna use it as a project car/learning car. please post any info you can to help me understand this better. i appreciate it. sorry again for posting about Acura here...thanks in advanced guys.