"Steve in Sunny Fla, T Cro, and Jettawreck, You are correct I had never done a compression check before! (obviously ha ha) and I bought the tester years ago in one of the "priced to move bins" at an auto parts store... its been in my tool box in its orginal packaging up until I tested Cylinder#1 SO... yes I did not know to hold the throttle wide open AND I had a bad cell in the battery (inspite of the fact that I kept it on a trickle charger) AND I had only pulled the plug for Cylinder #1 I did everything wrong! I'm going to try and do it right this time. If you guys couldn't tell, I've been reluctant to do all the cyclinders for one main reason... I don't think I can get the tester in the holes because of the frame!! would you settle for #'s 1 and 4?? cause I don't know if I can get #'s 2 and 3? but I will try... promise!"
My compression tester is a cheap one too, so I don't pay a lot of attention to the actual numbers in comparison to what others may get, but uniformity is what is important to me. That's why you want to get all the cylinder's numbers. If it is the typical gauge unit with 6-8" of flex hose on it, it will get the center ones. I can't recall, but the coils may have to come off, which is easy enough. I do remember having to scrounge up the correct spark plug adapter for mine, as it had either gotten "misplaced" or wasn't part of the kit.
Work through it. SISF obviously knows his stuff and has pretty much "seen it all" with these engines. Put his and other's experience and suggestions into practice and the Connie will be back to full power soon.