Re: 1956 Oliver 5.5 hp won’t start

[Buccaneer]

When I brought the Oliver home I checked the compression.
I remember it was somewhat lower than the Chris Craft with
the same power head, but thought it was satisfactory, so I
didn’t check the power head any further before sinking a
bunch of money in the lower unit, coils, etc.
After pulling on it for two days and not running for longer
than 10 seconds, I thought I better recheck compression.
I was disappointed to see that it only has 67 & 69 psi.
I was thinking it was in the 80’s initially, but perhaps that
was the Chris Craft. Could be that the previous owner
dumped some oil in the cylinders before selling and
that gave me higher readings, but I have no idea.
Is that way too low of compression for these engines?
Not sure if I should try the carb from the Chris Craft,
tear the power head apart, or just cut my losses before
I sink any more money into it 🙁
Thoughts?

Prepare to be boarded!