318 tired, compression test proves it...

Is there anyone around you that can tune an American V8 well? It has low compression, but not fatally low. My buddy's Jeep used to drive daily with 55psi... gear braking down a hill would produce 4' flames out the tailpipe..lol. That, was a bad motor. I'm not sure what you've done already as far as tuining. But the same stuf applies to stock parts... Timing curve, initial timing, idle speed, and idle mix are all critical.