THe rope does work fine, but yall are makin this so difficult. He HAS air. AIr works great as long as he brings the piston up to TDC on the cylinder he's working on. It's not hard at all.
Why does it matter top or bottom the rockers are off and there is no f!@#ing around just hook up the air, the piston will go down and there will be the same air pressure.
