Engine Normal Leakdown Results (unstarted in nearly 2 years)

[Lube]

Howdy, I'll try to stay succinct.

The background:
I have an 84 convertible LX with a carbureted blueprint 306. Bought it 5 years ago from PO who dogged the out of it, pretty sure.
After bringing it home, I found cold start to be an issue.
Found the oil to smell like gasoline and it was overfilled. (Had an inappropriate eddy 750)
Replaced the carb, replaced spark plugs, changed oil (eddy 650 avs2, tuned using O2 sensor and gauge.)
Car now runs AWESOME like a scalded dog and actually was pretty scary on the skinny tires.
Next week I try to start, and it took a lot of cranking with choke open to start.
Next week, I need carb cleaner to get it started. (Only driven maybe 50-100 miles over a couple weekends)
I check spark plugs, and they appear to be oil fouled already. I needed the car for a weekend (dad coming to town and needed a ride) so I threw new sparks in again temporarily.
Ran great again for that weekend, then quickly fouled and causes cold start.
I don't remember the numbers, but I'd done a compression test, and all cylinders seemed good.

Current:
Other stuff happened, and now it's been sitting for 2 years in my garage.
Decided to try a leakdown.
4 24% 8 25%
3 22% 7 16%
2 25% 6 22%
1 20% 5 19% *note: I had to hold the crank with one hand on the ratchet, as the test on this cyl would blow the piston down and the valves would open.

Photo of my tester, followed by a photo of my plugs. Plugs have not been run in 2 years, and have maybe 100 miles on them. Placed in order of the cylinders.

I don't wrench professionally, and as stated in my story here, not even at an amateur level very often.
So when I see these results, all I can do is try to guess what they mean based on other people's situations on the internet.
Thanks a lot to those who offer their knowledge and experience freely on the internet. Hopefully you can guide me.

 

[limp]

Did you replace the plug using the plug numbers on what you took out?
A couple looked a bit lean, top right looked a bit fouled..... Wondering if you have the wrong heat range plugs?
What heads are on the car?
Is the carb new? I would take it apart and check the float level.... A very critical adjustment.... Is the choke adjusted right? Does the choke pull off work?
Do you have a full 12 volts to the choke? The wire from the back of the alternator, that goes to the choke on a stock carb, is not 12 volts..
" In my opinion" you still have too large a carb for good street manners. I have a 500 CFM on my 83..

 

[Lube]

Did you replace the plug using the plug numbers on what you took out?
A couple looked a bit lean, top right looked a bit fouled..... Wondering if you have the wrong heat range plugs?
What heads are on the car?
Is the carb new? I would take it apart and check the float level.... A very critical adjustment.... Is the choke adjusted right? Does the choke pull off work?
Do you have a full 12 volts to the choke? The wire from the back of the alternator, that goes to the choke on a stock carb, is not 12 volts..
" In my opinion" you still have too large a carb for good street manners. I have a 500 CFM on my 83..

Thanks for the reply dude.

I don't remember what the PO had in there for plugs, but they were covered in gas/oil mix.
I called I think Champion support or something to get their opinion at the time, and the guy was pretty convincing that heat range 5 was the way to go for my engine.
*edit: I just remembered that different manu have different ranges. I used a conversion chart to get NGK HR 5 whenever I bought them because the champions I got the first time shot up in price. So in Champion it was 11 or 12.
Heads are the same blueprint aluminum heads that came with the engine.

The carb is brand new yeah. I got a calibration kit and an o2 sensor/gauge kit at the same time. I changed the rods and jets until I had recommended values coming out of the O2 gauge for idle, cruise and wot.
I can't recall what guide I followed for that--I can go take the rods and jets out to see what size they are, but I don't think the carb is the issue.
The choke is manual--I did not want to fiddle with the electric choke. Also it is just a for fun car, and I live in FL so it was never a big deal.

The car started and ran perfectly. No hesitation changing throttle positions. Wot was strong and never let up until I did.
It was just that oil was seemingly ruining the plugs. When I swapped the plugs out, the car would start right up.
I wish I could start the car and go for a ride then take the plugs back out to photo the plugs, since the one I posted is after they sat for 2 years, but on the last drive my clutch failed, which led me to saying "might as well rebuild the trans since it was tough to get into 3rd". So I did rebuild the trans thanks to an excellent contributor on youtube. Replaced 3rd gear and all syncro rings. I don't have a new clutch yet, haven't looked around yet.

Today I'll look up some info on checking valve stem seals and see if I can accomplish that.
Any more info or questions are welcome.

 

[slow84lx]

Is the PCV system hooked up and functioning? If you are getting oil to the plugs it is coming from somewhere. PCV, ring blow-by, or valve stem seals are the likely suspects.

 

[Lube]

Is the PCV system hooked up and functioning? If you are getting oil to the plugs it is coming from somewhere. PCV, ring blow-by, or valve stem seals are the likely suspects.

Yeah, that was supposed to be the point of the leakdown test. Though as I mentioned I don't know what a normal reading should look like, or if the hiss from the dipstick tube is in an acceptable range.

Regarding PCV, there is just a vent cap on each cover. Probably been like that since the PO put in the new engine.
I'm no expert obviously, but I would think that the vents should be fine as long as they aren't making a mess. Idk if I can test the vents for clogging by just blowing into them or what.

So if the leakdown results seem acceptable, then I could just go and try replacing the seals. I have zero deadlines for this car so I don't mind trying whatever.

Thanks,

 

[General karthief]

I'd focus on getting a PCV system installed and change the oil/filter, those 'breathers' ain't 'breathing' anything.

 

[Lube]

I'd focus on getting a PCV system installed and change the oil/filter, those 'breathers' ain't 'breathing' anything.

I can look into tossing in a pcv valve, sure. The oil and filter have probably 150 miles on them, so I would wager any contamination is minimal at this point.

Would you guess that in your opinion the leakdown results are within normal range, and rings should not be suspect? I just was hoping someone around here could give me a comparison or something.

If there's anything else I can do to troubleshoot this, I'd prefer to do that before reinstalling clutch, trans, driveshaft and exhaust so that I can get a good idea of what kind of work might be needed.

Thanks,

 

[General karthief]

I have to remind myself it's carb'd, PCV may be there, it will be plumbed to the carb base in the back or a valve cover.
Two of those old plugs look fouled, plug reading is an art,those two plugs may or may not be showing issues, don't get hung up on them, you stuck fresh ones in already, don't get hung up on heat ranges, yet, whatever Blueprint says they install, gapped of course. And toss that MSD coil in the neighbors yard and get a stock one.
You are try'n to get this rig running right?
No need for a choke in this weather, just stroke the throttle once, every time you stroke the throttle it squirts gas so once, maybe twice, that's all you should need.
Using the Ford Duraspark (I think that's what it's called, been a while)?

 

[AeroCoupe]

@Lube - can you provide a complete run down of the ignition system? This would be the manufacturer and model/series of the ignition box, distributor, cap, rotor, coil, and plug wires. Personal opinion here but I would only be running Autolite or Motorcraft plugs on a N/A motor. I have never had luck with Champion plugs and NGK are just expensive and you gain not a lot of anything over the Autolites or Motorcrafts. Again, just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt. Blueprint calls for a Chamopion 792 which crosses to an Autolite 3910.

 

[Blackhawkxx]

Today I'll look up some info on checking valve stem seals and see if I can accomplish that.

With bad valve stem seals, the engine will tend to smoke under high vacuum times if the seals are pretty bad. Like going down a long hill in 3rd gear.