It has been more than 20 years since I opened a IIIa, but IIRC there usually are scribe marks for the position of the helical relative to the rangefinder. Set the helical at infinity then the rangefinder to infinity and match the scribe marks. If there aren't any scribe marks, then you'll have to do it manually. Rangefinder on infinity and the helical on infinity.... At least with the Contax you know infinity is infinity with the helical. Use the stars or the moon for infinity for the rangefinder. The gears on the rangefinder will mesh with the helical and there is only one way that will be accurate.
Hope that helps.