If you have a cv carb, open throttle and raising the slide will show higher #'s

There's a shrader valve in the compression tester hose, letting it sit holding pressure only tells you if the gauge is holding pressure, leakdown of the cylinder is a different test and tester.

Clean it good and dry and see where the leak is coming from.

 

You could unscrew it from the cylinder and it will hold steady in the gauge until you release it....means nothing

 

Even if you have to replace those gasket (base up) it's not a huge job. Before I would spend a lot of time stressing over it I'd pull those cylinders and just replace the entire top end gaskets. The only special tool needed is a decent torque wrench.

 

Hey Omaha, use discretion cause the next thing you know they'll bee like , since your doing the top end might as well go to bigger pistons, better heads and a bigger cam and don't forget a Mik 45..... Oh man, you can't stop there now, you gotta get a better ignition. Oh crap since you did all that what about the gearing? You know how it goes..... Lol...

 

'zactly!

I figure eventually I'll open this thing up, and then I "may as well" put in a cam and "may as well" get the heads worked and "may as well" bump the compression a tad and all the rest.

But I was/am hoping to put that off as long as possible. This thing only has 26k on the clock, but it leaks like crazy. Everywhere. About the only thing that doesn't leak is the main seal between the cases.

Ok, who's kidding who. I was secretly hoping this head gasket weeping would be the thing that forced me to do all that now! As it stands, I guess it will just have to wait.

 

Clean the motor, cover the pushrod tubes and head gasket joint with talcum powder, go for a ride and you'll see exactly where the leak is coming from....no more guessing and stressing mate.