Yeah i will definetely let you know how it goes, and too bad i didnt know you rebuilt your engine recently. i spent a good week trying to figure out all the dang hoses and electrical. oh well. i got it now.

 

Also if anyone else has an opinion on this please weigh in! The more people the better!

 

I agree it's not a good idea to mix cases. Another thing, the rods and crank are matched up. Did you mix and match those? Are your timing marks Johnny on the spot? Do a leak down test to see if you have a leak some where.

 

My timing marks are spot on, and no i didn't mix and match my pistons/ rods. that's why it doesn't make sense that my pistons aren't coming far enough up. The rods, pistons, crankshaft, and cylinder assembly all came from the same engine.

 

I'm not familiar with the "squish" test. But if you're saying that your pistons are not traveling up to the top of the cylinders enough, and that distance that it's missing it by is about .7mm, then I can tell you for sure that it's not the problem with your low compresson.

Can you elaborate on this "squish" test ? Maybe there is a technical term for it and I'm just not familiar with the slang terminology... IDK.

 

Im not sure if there is a technical term for it. basically you take a piece of solder and either set it on top of the piston or angle it in there so that it will be "squished" by the piston when it comes to the top of its stroke. The piston should squish the solder against the head. You then measure the squished end of the solder to figure out the clearance.

And are you saying that my piston not coming up far enough would not cause my engine to loose compression?

 

A piston not coming up high enough in a cylinder would cause lower compression. However the amount of travel you're describing is about the thickness of a fingernail. Normal compression is in the high 100's psi. I believe that your cam timing is off, possibly by 180 degrees or something. For you to have only 50 psi in your cylinders would indicate that your valves are not opening and closing at the right time. Is it possible you got the Intake and Exhaust cams mixed up with each other ? I know it's a stupid question and I'm not trying to be insulting or anything like that. But you're missing about 100 psi and that's huge.

 

No thats not insulting, that was my first thought as well. but both the cams are labeled and i know i have them in the right place.
Also i know the amount of travel im talking about is tiny, but when the clearance is supposed to be around .7mm and mine is at 1.47mm that is a HUGE difference. probably enough to cause a huge loss in compression.