Well, right after I posted my request for advice on new rings, I
realized that I had done the compression test with a cold engine. As
Homer Simpson would say, "D'oh!"
Anyway, I redid the test, and the four cylinders go 160, 167, 165, and
170. That's more like it, I think - much less than 10% difference.
So why was the engine running poorly? Turns out two of the adapters on
top of the spark plugs (the little cylinder things with grooves that screw
on) were lose - that caused an intermittant spark. After tightening them
down with some pliers, everything was great - well, pretty much.
Turns out that base ring of my distributor is damaged where the clamping
mechanism holds it - found that out when I went to adjust the timing. The
rest of the distributor is fine - anybody got a spare base? I don't want
to spring for a complete rebuilt distributor when that's the only problem.
Thanks to all those that responded - most of you were correct in saying it
was not the rings. Glad there are so many folks out there smarter than
me!
Dr. Mark Clark
Oregon Institute of Technology
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