I made the leap and spent $42 on a compression tester. I went and tested the compression and all cylinders read too little to register the gauge. I assume they were nowhere they should have been. I literally just noted it as a few psi. The number one cylinder has no compression at all. Cylinder 7 reads about 107 psi.

I imagine I need to re-adjust all the valves because it appears they are not adjusted correctly. We had pulled the heads and had to set the valve lash and we followed a set of instructions I found online. Guess it isn't quite right. Odd how I can still get it to run though.

I wondered why I couldn't get it to start and I thought it was a ignigion problem because I could get it to run on occasion it was just really hard to start. Just thought the ignition was weak. Well I got the new ignition and it must really work well because it is lots easier to start this low compression beast than what it was before I replaced it.

I guess I need to set the valves correctly so I can tell what if any cylinder it is or if the valves being set incorrectly is causing my problem. What is the best and proven method to set my valves properly? What compression range am I looking to achieve for a mildly modified BBC?