One thing to keep in mind, if the engine has been run a while with the balancer loose, it could have boogered up the crank snout. I've never run an early balancer, but from chatter I've heard, they're junk. Personally, I'll never run a factory balancer again, because of all the slip, etc I've had with them. The newer aftermarket factory replacement balancers are better now, from what I understand, though I've never used one, and if you keep it under say 6000 RPM, you should be ok. As for the timing marks, yes, it's possible they're at different locations, personally I'm not sure, and it's also possible the timing cover is mounted slightly off. (Not sure how many degrees that would effect, but it could). I've never trusted the marks 100% anyway, and even chain stretch could effect the TDC verification process. Adding all that up can give you a variance of several degrees. When it comes to timing a street car, start with initial, then total, then play with advance. If your confident the carb is close to the target in initial adjustment, move the timing to where it idles well, gives good off-idle response, and forget the marks. Obviously, your doing this without any vacuum advance factors, which is the last thing to add to the equation. Back to the balancer question, IMO, get a later factory replacement one, and correct the pulleys if out of alignment. When you have the balancer off, mic the snout for runout....
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