The compression reading should be in the neighborhood of 160 psi.
Regarding your car's lack of performance, what is the fuel economy of your car on the highway? If you are getting 36 mpg or higher, I recommend checking the cam timing.......remove a spark plug, turn the crank over until the notch in the cam is starting to appear in the cam holder, keep turning the crank until the piston is at TDC, verify the notch in the cam is centered in the cam holder (and look at the cam lobes to see if they are at their minimum height), and look at the notch on the flywheel pulley to see if it is lined up with the "T" on the crankcase. If the cam is shifted by one or two teeth from the proper position, it will shift the performance of the car...... the car runs fine and gets good fuel economy but under acceleration and when climbing hills it will not have the performance of a car which is correctly timed.
When timing the cam to the crank, the most trustworthy spots are going to be actually measuring the piston to verify it is at TDC and the slot on the cam (although you should take a look at the cam lobes but I have never seen the slot in the cam not in the correct position. I have seen the horizontal scribe mark on the cam's center sprocket to not be correctly marked).
If your fuel economy is less than 32 mpg, then your poor performance could be due to dozens of things.
good luck,
Dale
Feeling the pinch at the grocery store?> It
> seemed to have power when I first had it running, (when the carb was messed > up) so I don't think it is valves....what is the compression normally supposed > to be? Thanks, > Don
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