i have a 66 stang with a 302 that i just put in it and i was putting the spark plug wires in and i was wondering..i turned the engine over until the number 1 piston was at top dead center but i don't know if it was on the compression stroke or the power stroke? does it have to be on the power stroke to make sure that im installing the plug wire right or does it even matter? aslo ...my dipstick tube is hitting the alternator so i turned it so it wouldn't hit it ...i haven't started the engine up yet but does it matter what direction the dipstick goes in? thanks for all replies

 

yes it matters, and yes, it must be on the power stroke.

 

Kev,

Remove the valve cover and watch the valves for the number one cylinder. If the piston is at TDC and neither valve is compressed, you are on the compression stroke.

Just for clarification, The intake and the power stroke are on the downstroke travel of the piston, The up-stroke is compression and exhaust.

You want to time it on the compression stroke. Not powerstroke. Eventhough there is only one degree of difference between the powerstroke and compression stroke at TDC, it helps to keep the terminology correct.

After all of this, I don't see what this has to do with installing your sparkplug wires. You install them the same as the old ones were. You can also follow the diagram in any cheap manual, or find one on-line like this one:
http://www.summitracing.com/tech/cha...rts_firing.htm

 

wouldn't it be much easier to just remove the #1 spark plug to find the compression stroke?

 

At first your question made no sense until I re-read my post. I completely forgot to include that step! Thanks for pointing that out! I was thinking he already had the plug out and was using that approach.

Yes, the spark plug must be removed to be able to determine when the piston is at TDC. But remember, the piston hits TDC twice, once on the compression stroke and again on the exhaust stroke.

I use a soft stick or pencil to be able to feel the piston when it nears the top dead center position. I place it in the hole and hold on to it!

 

The timeing mark on the harmonic balancer also helps.

 

The stroke that produces the bigger puff of air is the compression stroke. Then use the damper from there.