Hello so I just got my hands on a90 4runner 3.slo. I am taking the motor apart to have it rebuilt and after looking at everything I believe the distributor gear is off a few teeth.
Qhen I set the crank pulley to 0* the distributor is actually to far clockwise so closer to cyl.6. What else could cause this?

 

If you're taking the motor apart, confirm that #1 is at the top of the stroke when the crank pulley is at 0°. The crank pulley (correctly, the Harmonic Balancer) has an annular rubber ring between the crank part and the pulley part. That ring has been known to fail, allowing the pulley part (with the TDC mark) to shift versus the crank.

Of course, the distributor could just have been installed correctly. Each tooth is about 28°, so even one tooth could put you that far off.

 

Okay, can you tell by looking at the balance if that ring has shifted? Because, when the balance is at 0* the cams were a full quarter turn off as well so in assuming the balancer is toast

 

Well, before you do that, remember that the cams will be "off" if the timing belt is on wrong (I don't think they "slip," but wrong is wrong however it got there.)

Pull the plug from #1, and drop in a wooden chopstick or plastic straw (don't use a screwdriver -- risk of gouging!). Rock the crank to find TDC. What does the mark say?

Once the balancer is off, the timing sprocket also has a mark (the sprocket is solid and keyed to the crank, so no risk of slipping there). But getting the balancer off is a big job (VERY tight bolt, and you need a shop-made tool to keep the crank from turning to remove the bolt).