The Chilton's manual says to use "the red timing mark" for all 89 Civics.

Not sure what you mean about the "UP" text. Do you have a vee notch and pointer
on your timing belt cover? A good description (with great photos) of the
procedure for a 1990 Civic CRX appears at
http://www.norcalcrx.org/ht.html#ignition . Not that it will necessarily help
you see the marks, but it couldn't hurt. See especially Fig. 6.

I checked my 1991 Civic LX's timing yesterday. On the crankshaft pulley I could
just barely see the white mark (top dead center?) and the three marks (red mark
in the middle) after it. I could just barely make out the white and red colors.
Being 100% sure the red mark was dead-on lined up with the pointer in the vee
seems difficult, given the limits of the human eye (or maybe the red mark being
covered with grease and grime).

"Jouko L." <joke@cc.hut.fix.the.addr.by.changing.fix.to.fi> wrote
> Could any Honda Civic late 80's owner help me with timing the belt,
> please. In the cam gear there are three marks and "UP" text, and it's
> easy to figure out, that one of the marks should be aligned with the
> mark in the plastic cover (when the "UP" points up). In the crank pulley
> there are two markings: one double line and one triple line (with red
> paint in the middle line). I can't see any other marks (like white
> paint, what is sometimes used as timing mark). Which of these two marks
> should be aligned with the mark in the plastic cover?