[pistonbroke]

Something about the timing mark bothers me. My brothers 255 had sheared the woodruff key on the crank but that is rare. I'm wondering about the cam timing since it won't run with the timing set closer to normal. Just me thinkin what would I do in your place, I would pull the timing cover and check my marks then my firing order on the plug wires. After that the carb would be my next go to. You talk about compression and although it's important it's not a deal breaker. My old 41 pickup has a couple at 40 psi ,80 psi and 4 at 100 psi. I drove it everywhere until the transmission went south. It started and ran good although a little on the gutless side. there is my two cents, Tim