Hey, you sound like me back in November. If you are using a timing light when the engine isn't running, it is obvious that you don't know what you're doing. I did the same thing with the timing light.
To make sure your #1 cylinder is at TDC COMPRESSION STROKE what I do is seal the spark plug hole with my finger and have a friend rotate the crank (rotate the crank clockwise with a breaker bar and large socket, I think 1-1/8") until you start to feel pressure building up in the cylinder with your finger. Continue turning the crank until the piston is at the top of its travel and confirm this by noting the timing mark is at 0 deg.
Now we need to make sure you've got the plug wires in the right spots. Here is another mistake I made when I did it for the first time. I thought that the numbers of the cylinders represented their firing order and connected the plug wires in that order (1,2,3,4...etc) on the distributor cap. Big mistake. The cylinder number denotes the cylinder's physical position on the engine, not it's firing order. The firing order for your engine is stamped on the intake manifold behind and to the right of the carb on top of one of the intake runners. It should be something like 1-8-5-6-3.... i can't remember exactly. Anyway, connect the wires to the distributor cap in that order.
When you are connecting the wires, start with #1 cylinder wire and connect it at the position located right above the rotor, as this is the cylinder that would be currently firing if the engine were running. Proceed connecting the plug wires following the direction the rotor travels when you turn the crank using the breaker bar.
You may have to experiment rotating the distributor forward or backward a little bit at a time to see if you can get it to crank (to rotate the distributor there is a hold-down bolt down by where the dist goes into the engine, loosen this bolt to rotate the dist)
Once it is cranked and running (probably running like ****) you can then try your best to keep it running while you use the timing light. The 403 should be set to 24 deg BTDC ignition timing. I know 24 deg is a lot, but trust me this is about where you want it. If the mark shows up after 24 deg, rotate the dist counter-clockwise, if before, rotate clockwise.
LMK if you can't get it working, but also lmk if you do.
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