How to properly remove dampener bolt?

If the heads are off, and you’re taking the cam out, why are you so worried about keeping the crank at TDC? You will have to go through all of the steps to reassemble the front after the cam is reinstalled, so why not just get the front off, do what you have to do, and when you’re ready to reassemble it, put the cover and balancer on temporarily and realign the crank to TDC then? Heck, with the heads off, just borrow or rent a dial indicator and set the #1 piston to TDC with that. With no cam in it, it doesn’t matter which stroke it’s on, as long as the #1 piston is at the top of its stroke.