Re: TDC indicator
When I was looking for a TDC indicator online, the ones with 14mm screw adapters were very expensive. Since I was probably only going to use it once, I didn't want to invest much money in this tool. As a cheap alternative, I bought a generic 1" TDC indicator on ebay for $15 and adapted it for my use.
Since it did not have the 14mm screw adaptor. I fabricated something to substitute. I cut a short piece of hose (about 1 inch in length) that could fit over the thick part of the indicator stem where a holding clamp is usually attached. The tube's outside diamater was large enough so that it would not slip inside the spark plug hole. I think I used fuel line tubing. The short piece of tubing on the indicator stem let me hold the indicator firmly against the spark plug hole to get a consistent reading.
I also needed to fabricate something so that the 1" range of the indicator's shaft was suitable for the piston's range of motion. As is, the shaft was too short and the tip did not touch the piston head when at the .464 mark. To do this I slipped a short piece of stiff tubing (1/4 inch drip irrigation tubing worked for me) over the indicator's shaft making it in effect longer. I cut the length of the tubing so that the indicator shaft's measuring range was appropriate. The end of the tubing acted as the tip of the indicator.
This worked well enough for me and it cost me very little. I have read of others that take an old spark plug, drill out the center, epoxy the indicator into the drilled out hole, and use this setup. If I had a drill press, I would probably have tried that instead of using a piece of hose.
