Setting the timing 87 Voyager 3.0L V6

[bunsen]

1987 Plymouth Voyager van 300,000+ kms. we replaced the engine of our van recently and when in the process of getting the new motor running again, my assistant took the coil wire off at the coil instead of at the distributor to check for a spark and as a result, when the spark came, it arced out on the coil and obviously burned out several things. The engine still turns over but does not start, there was no voltage at the coil. I checked all fuses and replaced the autoshutdown relay, the coil, the coil-to-distributor wire, the distributor, and finally, the computer. I now have voltage at the coil. To find TDC on the #1 cylinder, I took the alternator off the bracket to have more space to work with. I believe I have TDC on the #1 cylinder's compression stroke, I feel air blowing through the hose of the compression tester when my partner cranks the engine over. At this point, I lined up the rotor on the distributor with the #1 plug wire contact inside the distributor cap.
Is this how the timing is set, or is it just a starting point?
If I put the alternator back on, the spark plug and plug wire, and the distributor cap back on, it should start, right?

Thanks for the help!

[DAVE K]

stupid question:did you wire the dist.in the direction
the rotor turns?if so it should.