measured the stroke on the FE today

[Dragon]

Well you have a stroker now but like the ones I said earlier. Another check of a different cylinder would solve the problem.

[quantumleap]

do the same test on ANY other cylinder should give me the same result then...should i start it at tdc?

[Dragon]

Start at TDC and rock the cylinder back and forth to make sure you are up all the way then mark it. Turn the engine down and rock it again to find bottom and measure . Make sure the dowel rod is at the outside edge of the cylinder and you will get the 4-1/8 th I bet again.

[quantumleap]

rock the cylinder.....?
sorry to be such a novice at all this but im glad to learn all this first hand from all of you experts and especially from a former ford service tech(dragon)...

[Dragon]

You rock the crank back and forth looking for the lowest point. Meaning move the crank back and forth with a wrench. I had a timing wheel slip and after that I stopped depending on the TDC Mark until I had done the rocked the crank test. To get the high and low points. Mostly fast engines will do that rarely stock engines will slip the timing wheel but it is worth checking.