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tubman · 11-26-2017, 09:07 PM

You might try an old snowmobiler's trick. Feed enough rope down through the spark plug hole to act as a piston stop. Turn the crankshaft both ways until it stops turning. Halfway between is TDC. You would have to be kinda careful not to vary the amount of rope in the cylinder and rock it back and forth several times to account for the compress-ability of the rope, but I bet it'd be close. I think a dial indicator extension would be tough.

I've done this a lot on snowmobiles, but admit I've never tried it on a flathead Ford.

Bruce, could you explain how that dial indicator set up would work?

11-26-2017, 09:07 PM	#3
tubman Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys Posts: 12,147	Re: dial indicator adaptor You might try an old snowmobiler's trick. Feed enough rope down through the spark plug hole to act as a piston stop. Turn the crankshaft both ways until it stops turning. Halfway between is TDC. You would have to be kinda careful not to vary the amount of rope in the cylinder and rock it back and forth several times to account for the compress-ability of the rope, but I bet it'd be close. I think a dial indicator extension would be tough. I've done this a lot on snowmobiles, but admit I've never tried it on a flathead Ford. Bruce, could you explain how that dial indicator set up would work?