I have changed many timing belts on 1980's vintage 200 series vehicles. But they were always maintenance replacements, never after a failure of the belt. So I never had to re-establish correct timing in these cases. Now things are different.

As I generally understand things, I really need to get the crank oriented such that cylinder 1 is at TDC. Then get the came so it is at the #1 TDC position (both lobes up and the cam gear mark lined-up. Finally, rotate the distributor drive gear until the rotor is pointing at the wire for #1 and the gear mark is lined-up. Then install new belt and all is well.

Assuming the above is generally correct, my problem is this: how to best establish that #1 piston is at TDC? I have the plugs out but cannot get my pinky finger into the plug hole to feel anything. Any suggestions on what to use as a probe or how to otherwise establish this?

Thanks