It seems too easy because it is. With the belts off "compression stroke" is meaningless. You just set the cam on the index mark. If you doubt yourself, look through the oil filler to see both lobes of #1 cylinder are "perky" and you know the valves are closed.

Yes, feel for the piston at the top with a chopstick or straw and turn the crank about a quarter turn to the right. Feed into #1 spark plug hole maybe a foot and a half 1/4" nylon rope and then loosen the crank bolt against the rope. Just loosen it a tad so you can again loosen it with just the ratchet. Back the piston off of the rope so you can pull it out, give the ratchet a spin and the bolt is in your hand.

Replace your leaky seal.

Reinstall by setting the crank a quarter turn to the left of the top, and torque the bolt to 125 ft./lb. Don't forget to reinstall the spark plug.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.