Need help finding TDC on a 3.6
 

Now that I have everything off of the 3.6 and at the powder coaters I’m ready to adjust the valves. I pulled the pulley off and now I don’t know how to find TDC or get the pulley aligned when I install it.

I thought about just going off the distributor but didn’t think that would be accurate enough. My next thought was to get a dial gauge and fixture. Is there an easier way that I’m missing?

Simplest way of all is to stick a dowel through the sparkplug hole till it hits the piston crown, then you rotate the crank slowly until both volves are closed--you can just slightly "rattle" both tappet arms--and the maximum length of dowel is showing above the cylinder head--i.e. the piston is as far up as it's going to go before starting back down again. You can then rock the crank back and forth a bit and try to achieve the utmost accuracy. Steve Stomski sells a tool--I believe it's around $55--that does this with greater precision. It screws into the sparkplug hole and has a graduated metal rod that does the same thing that the dowel is doing rather more grossly.

Stephan