[A Cobra guy]

It seems I have more problems than a 1 legged man in a butt kicking contest.

I replaced the cap & rotor. - No change.
After starting it up with replaced wires and plugs there was alot of noise from the exhaust header. I had a very thick gasket, a phenolic (sp?) type material in there. It was leaking badly. As I pulled the header off the gasket just fell apart in pieces. That has been replaced but not tested yet.

I will do a proper compresion test tonight (on all 8 cylinders if I can get to them) I'll post numbers tomorrow.

olddog- your help has been great in keeping me on track. You are correct about what would happen with the exhaust valve open on the intake stroke. I just didn't think about the fact that the intake air is sucked in and not forced in.

Madmax- When the plug was arcing did it make a ticking nose? Over the years I have had wires lay on the headers, melt and then arc to the header. I now recognize that sound. Either way I have 4 spare plugs in that side for now. I have looked at the plugs I pulled out and don't see anything wrong. Once the car is running well I will put the plugs back in and see if problem comes back.