Well I don't have a clue about the cutouts. You might try searching. As far as the compression stroke, well you could just try moving the cap 180 deg and see if it starts. Or you could remove the #1 plug and see which time it makes compression (pushes air out). A compression gauge would be handy for this but you could probably just feel it with your finger (turning the engine slow with the ratchet!).

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra