Want my engine to start for Christmas

OK the angled 'ledge' by the damper ring where the timing cover's mark should be for a 70-or-later cover looks to be at the right location. (Are the marks covered by thick paint, or is it just the photo? I can't see any of the cast timing marks on that 'ledge'.) I'd be using a mirror to look all around the damper ring and see where that white mark is; that would be useful info.

In your pix of the rockers, are you showing the #1 valves at an equal amount of opening? Both slightly open? I do seem to see the piston top through the hole. Is it at TDC using a piston stop?

If the #1 piston top is truly at the top of the stroke (TDC) with a piston stop, and the damper ring is not at the right spot, then the damper ring has to have slipped. If the ring's mark is at the top, that would make sense; it would be expected to slip backwards (CCW looking from the front of the car).

Now that does not say if the cam timing is good or bad. Mark the damper ring with a temporary mark beside some fixed mark on the cover with the #1 piston exactly at TDC. Then rotate the crank 1 exact rotation so that mark is again aligned to your reference. See if the valves of #1 are open about the same small amount at that point. If not, then make exactly 1 more rotation and see if they are in that condition.

The above is a rough check of cam timing. To be sure, you gotta use the old dial indicator and degree wheel.