About 1-2 tablespoons of oil, which equates about 2-3 inches of oil held in the straw. The spark plug holes are waaay down there :)

If the car has over 200K, the Tbelt is supposed to be changed every 70K. But some people change it early, not trusting souls.

Correct about all of the timing marks. The crank pulley, we don't call it a harmonic balancer around here, has a mark which is hard to see and gets lined up with the mark on the oil pump housing (12 o'clock). The cam marks you described are correct. If they line up, no problem.
If everything lines up, as is, then I suspect you just need to crank the starter for 30-60 seconds with pedal on the floor. Or add a little oil to each cylinder and then let the smoke burn off :)

It is also time for a new hydraulic damper and rollers. Check the water pump for weepage.

The only way to check for valve clashing is to turn the engine by hand and listen. With the plugs out, the engine should turn easily for 720 degrees.


Klaus
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Praying for Cynthia Amendt, heaven bound