Sorry, sometimes that's what it takes. You can actually get by without the degree wheel; and a pointer can be as easy as a piece of coat hangar wire wrapped around a handy bolt. You could even get by without that, if you find TDC at the flywheel.
You might even get lucky and find the timing marks on the flywheel (or not).
If not, make up a piston stop, which can be as simple as a piece of flat iron drilled to fit over a pair of head studs, and a bolt in the middle. Install the stop over #1, turn the crank one direction until the piston hits the stop. Make a mark on the back of the block, and a matching mark on the flywheel. Now turn the crank the other direction until the piston comes up against the stop again. Make another mark on the flywheel matching the mark on the block. Measure between the two marks on the flywheel (or count teeth if you take partial teeth into account), make a third mark exactly halfway between the first two. That's TDC.
After that, the method given in the workshop manual for setting valve timing without the marks should work fine. It does need the head and the valve train to #4 in place; but you can just set the head down over the studs, install two pushrods (for #4) and tighten down the rocker shaft.
Or, wait until you get to that point in building the engine, either way.
It's not really important that you understand the following, so ignore it if you like. Just a bit of theory on why the "on balance" method works:
The TR4 cam should have the intake valve opening 17 degrees before TDC; while the exhaust valve closes 17 degrees after TDC. The lobes are symmetrical, which means both valves move the same distance in that 17 degrees. So, we're checking for when that is the case (both having moved the same distance), which is 0 degrees from the cam's point of view. Set that to match 0 degrees (TDC) on the crankshaft and Robert's your near relative (or something like that).