Thanks to everyone that has giving me input on this perplexing situation with engine timing. I have been out of town the last four days so it is time for me to get back to the old Mercedes timing issues.

In responding to the posts, I have only rotated the engine in the normal direction of rotation. If the camshaft marks went past the assembly marks, I would rotate the engine all the way around in the correct direction to realign them.

I have unfortunately tried every thing that ctaylor738 recomended in his post several times and the outcome is always the same. The left assembly marks lign up perfect and the right marks are way off.

Is this just something I need to live with or is there some underlining problem? Could the lower rails, guide wheel sprocket, distributor sprocket, or crank sprocket be worn and throw the timing off to this extent?