You need to be a little cautious on the front cover. Firstly the seal is centred on the crank; aligning is pretty critical upon reinstall. Secondly you also will need some new seals - the lower piece against the sump, and the timing cover gasket itself.
Also there is pulling the damper - a tough one. Cracking the bolt is easy, hold the socket firmly on the bolt with one hand and rap hard/sharply on the cheater bar with your 3 pound hammer. It's a regular thread. Leave the bolt installed, but with 1/8" underhead clearance when pulling the damper or you will mess up the damper bolt threads with the puller "point". Once the damper moves an eighth, take off the puller, back the bolt out another eighth, reinstall damper and repeat... Eventually it will come off. Clean the key and keyway, too. Did the rebuild shop fit your oil slinger back on there?
You now need all the plugs out to continue. Crank the motor over by hand (not with the starter) until the timing dots are aligned and check they are exactly so, as per the handbook. As the upper sprocket rotates, eyeball the two camshaft retainer bolts and check they are fully tight. With some effort (but not being silly and damaging the gasket faces) try prying the camshaft forward with a flatblade screwdriver behind the chain/sprocket. Now try tapping it back. Total movement should be less than 5 thousandths.
Getting back to timing lights:
A simple inductive timing light should flash at any cranking speed. It "feels" a spark, and flashes instantly in response. To test the motor without starting it, you need the plug leads all grounded out on the motor, and away from their spark plugs. However, the coil lead must remain connected as normal.
In all seriousness, what type of timing light are you using, and can you be sure it's working properly?