I'm building a mild 5.0 tpi for my iroc and i bought a new timing cover from summit racing and it didn't come with a new timing tab. I was wondering if there were any tricks to putting a new one, where to put it and how to go about doing it. thanks

 

Sounds like you need to change the style somewhat.

Proform parts makes a balancer cover with timing marks. You would need to place a needle-pointer on the block to indicate TDC.

 

you can get an adjustable aluminum or stamped steel bolt on timing pointer from most any mail order performance shop.
it bolts to the right side of the timing cover and i think there's only one way it lines up. juse get it right above the balancer.
the balancer may have "slipped" for whatever reason though, making proper timing impossible. to check this you have to locate top dead center of the #1 cylinder. to do this you get a piston stop, the kind that screws into the spark plug hole, adjust it so it just touches the piston, mark the 0* on the balancer and rotate the engine one full turn with the piston moving away from the stop. mark where the 0* mark sits again, and half way between the two marks you just made is true t.d.c.
if you have an adjustable pointer, just set it to true zero, if it's not, just take some white porcelain paint and make a new zero and add or subtract from there!
Eric B