Chanmadd: "I like to mark the dipstick when the motor is upside down on an engine stand........mark just below the crank throw ............when its running there will be a quart or more in the top of the engine....."
This really had me scratching my head then it dawned on me that maybe the engines you work on have the dip stick tube mounted through the block. I'm most familiar with Chevies and their sticks are mounted through the
oil pan. It would be impossible to see where the stick reaches with the pan resting on the underside of the up-side-down block. I've had only a few Chevy engines torn apart, over 'way too many decades, but I think I have a fairly good idea of how they are engineered. Both the good and the bad things. Thanks for making me think.