Charles, There is an easier way to do the same thing with an engine with horizontal crossheads. Make a wooden block that you can place on the piston rod and revolve the engine until the crosshead comes against the block. Use a tram to mark a spot on the drive wheel right at the tire rim and then revolve the engine the other way until it again strikes the block. Use the tram to mark the drive wheel again at the tire line. Use dividers to locate the place exactly half way between the two marks and voila' there is your TDC. This is the way a lot of the 12" to the foot shop men did it as there is no deed to remove the head this way. The reason we took off the head of your engine (Cli-Shay) was because it is vertical and a bit harder to hold a block on the piston rod properly. Jesse where it is snowing right now. Stealing Jesse Livingston's thunder a bit here, he told me to pull the head and put a nut on top of it (vertical engine). Nut should be thicker than the clearance between the head and piston at TDC. Then crank clockwise until things stop, make an identifying mark, crank the other way until things stop, make a second mark. Pull the head and remove the nut. Halfway between the two marks is TDC. Charles MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.