Where's the Wow?
After checking the cam it is at 106 CL as the card says. The crank sprocket does have different keyways so if I move it to the other way with the "roof" that will give me the advance I want?
It looks like a Tru-Roller crank sprocket (like from Mancini). On those, the groove with the triangular 'roof' advances the cam 4 degress, the groove with the round 'roof' is straight up (where it sets now) , and the groove with the flat 'roof' retards the cam 4 degrees.
Change the crank sprocket to the one with the triangular 'roof, and then be sure to recheck the ICL to see if it now is at 102. Let us know if you then see around 5 psi increase in cranking compression. A check of cranking compression on one or a few particular cylinder(s) before and after changing the cam timing would be a good baseline.
Yes it is original short block. It had no ridges on top of the cylinders and they looked good. The bearings looked fine. Had limited funds at the time so I threw it in.
Understood on the limited funds! It is what it is; low compression and a moderately big or big cam always leads to low torque at low RPM. With the chambers at 68cc's and the thinner head gasket, it will be better than stock, but still on the low side.
The only thing reported that does not hang with the rest of the data is your compression readings; all the other numbers given indicate around 125-130 psi not 140-150 psi. Hence the question on the gauge, either it is wrong, or something else reported early on is not correct and you have higher compression than we think. (Which leads to more why's.....)
BTW, your base of comparison was your 'old 318'. What did that 318 have in it? We are all just going on this comparison without really knowing what your seat-of-the-pants baseline really is. The part about not barely begin able to spin the tires is telling; by comparison, my son's 340 with a very similar cam and a true 10 SCR will spin them at anything over 1/2 throttle from a dead stop; 3.55 rear axle, 2200 RPM stall, early A body with a slight forward rake.
