89 metro timing belt

Ok I got a 89 metro for $100 it needed a timing belt. My ? is can I set the crank and cam sprockets correctly without taking off the crank pulley? the timing belt cover is broken on the bottom so that it can be taken off and on without removing the crank pulley and I cant get it off easily anyway. I tried to line the cam pulley up with the scribe and mark on it and put the crank at its 5 degree timing mark and it starts and runs like crap backfiring, cant be right. Didnt see a dowel pin in the cam as I have read on here somewhere but there is a scribe mark and alignment notch, if I set that can I just put the #1 cyl at TDC ? And which cyl is #1 HELP !!!

Remove the crank pulley by removing the 4 10mm head bolts, you do not need to remove the 17mm center bolt. After that, you should see a dot on the crank cog. Line it up with the arrow on the oil pump. That is TDC. The cam has a mark on the valve cover (a little notch) that you line up the cam with.

Ok so my question was can I do valve timing WITHOUT removing the crank pulley. Are you saying that when the crank pulley is in the proper rotatation aligned with the marks indicated it would put the no 1 cyl at TDC ? That is what I was hoping then I could just pull the spark plug out of no 1 and use a screwdriver to find TDC by inserting and rotaing the crank. is No 1 the closest to the pulleys?

Yes,Yes and Yes. The first is true since your cover is broken. The second, lining up the dot with the arrow, its TDC. Third, the #1 cyl is closest to the front. You might also want to check the compression too. The little 3 banger likes to eat the exhaust valves, usually #3 first, then #2. By the time #2 looses most of it compression, the engine won't start. I do not mean to scare you but just trying to help.

Ok cool I will try it tonight, pull plugs, run compression test (if I can find my tester) insert screwdriver into #1 rotate crank till it reaches top align cam with marks, put on belt. I`ll let you know tomorrow how it goes.