Originally Posted by
Civic2Scooby
you are not gonna damage a piston by putting a length of metal rod into the spark plug hole and turning the crank by hand till you reach TDC. It is extremely acceptable. If you damage a piston with a metal rod the size of a pencil, than your pistons are made out of paper.
I agree; this is an acceptable method. As long as you don't rush through, it should work well enough.
Also, the only way way you'll damage a piston is if you, for some reason, decide to "tap" in the metal rod with a sledgehammer.