Checked the com pression in all cylinders, 1, 2, 3 & 4 tested above 160. 5 tested at 40psi and 6 tested at 50 psi and held pressure. So I put about a table spoon of oil into the cylinder and tried 5 again and it went up to 60psi. So possible rings or possible head gasket? because the two cylinders that are low in psi are adjoining cylinders?
I inspected the head gasket and it seems to be fine, there arnt any serious blow outs but does that necessarily mean the head gasket isn't bad? I need help with this I can't find any good threads with a good convincing answer. Anyone?

 

although low on compression, if the oil doesn’t raise the compression it could be a blown head gasket or a burnt valve, one other thought could be a cracked head.

If the gasket doesn’t have a darker streak on it or on the metal parts, then check the valves how do they appear to you.

Since you have the engine apart, maybe see about a valve job to include a head cleaning and magna-flux (sp), magnetically checking for cracks in the head surface.

Sometimes the cracks in a head will only show when the engine is heated up and having the head checked is the only way to know.

luck.

 

Alright thanks. So it was the rings. I just bought a temporary junk yard motor and going start my new project of building a 4.0 from the bottom up. Should be a fun build thanks for your help