Howdy fellow boat enthusiasts,

I'm trying to make some judgment calls on a motor I have on my project boat,
and need your help.

It has some obvious electrical problems currently, however, it also has low
compression last I checked.

Some history on this motor (1972 80HP Merc) is that it did sit for 8 years
without running, and since then it has started a couple times running
briefly in a barrel (not even sure if it was firing on all four cylinders
though).

When checked (in the period after it had started and run a couple times) the
compression was even, but noticeably low, very low. Does anyone know what
the compression should be low to high for a motor like this which would
make it still worthy to fix up?

I really don't want to put hundreds of dollars into this old motor if its
bound to check-out in a short time. A newer used motor would likely be a
better choice I believe.

C.