Timing adjustment 85 760turbo

[turbo no/go]

According to my repair manual my ignition timing cannot be manually adjusted, even though before i learned this a shop that was doing a tune-up told me they adjusted the timing.(1985 760turbo w/intercooler b230FT 4clyl. 2.3ltre..)

I'm about to put a distributor on for the second time, the hall sensor was beyond repair in the first one, so i'm putting a new one on when i receive it in the mail. The rotor posistion was not marked the second time it was taken off, so is doing the thumb/tool over plug hole #1 until you feel compression the only way to know it's right, and then put the rotor pointing on the '1' posistion?

The distributor is mounted in the head, between the head and the firewall.

Any 'easy won't screw anything up' methods? Thanks

[turbo no/go]

O.K., so i got a test light, found the mark on the pully,hooked up to battery and plug cable 1 and adjusted my distributor(turning clock/counter clockwise until strobe light picked up mark on pully.I didn't even know adjusting the distributor like this is how you find your timing, the chiltons and haynes manuals say my ignition timing cannot be manually adjusted??

Am i misunderstanding something here? The books say to note the posistion of the dog pin in relation to the two 'teeth' on the distributor that fit into the two grooves in the head when taking the distributor off, and to put it back the same, that's about it .

The test light method is described, but for other models/engines.
What's the deal?