Motor timing and gear reductions

[Izzy]

I recently purchsed a "pulling" motor and noticed once I had it installed that the end bell has timing marks. Now from all the CarAction mags and articles I know that timing improves the performance of the motor. Ive installed a 3:1 before the tranny which switches the direction of the "forward" so this complkicates it further.

So here's the question - how do I know what direction is forward on this motor?