How do you put piston on compression stroke?

Answer 1

Remove coil wire from distributor cap and ground the wire. Remove the spark plug from number one cylinder. Stick your finger in the spark plug hole. Have an assistant jog the engine over with the key. When you feel and hear compression coming out from the number one cylinder (it will be obvious) tell your assistant to stop. At this point you will continue to move the crankshaft clockwise by hand until the timing marks for TDC are lined up. You now have the TDC firing point for number one cylinder.

Answer 2

You turn the engine over by hand, watch the valves move, and count the strokes until you're at compression.