<VV> Engine Problem....What to do? (long, please bear with me)

[ChiefTAM@aol.com]

I really appreciate all the helpful suggestions that were provided to me when 
I asked for suggestions on my car that was being driven to Texas from Iowa.  
Well, I'm sorry (for myself) to say that it appears that JR was correct.  As 
much as I would have liked it to be the old JC Penney spark plugs that were in 
the engine, it appears that is not the main culprit.  

A little background.  I moved to Texas in October.  My brother was bringing 
my Corvairs down to me from their storage in Iowa as he came down for the 
NASCAR races last weekend.  He was hauling my 65 turbo and driving the 69 Monza 
Convertible, 110 hp, 4-speed, 49000 original miles.  Somewhere in southern Kansas 
or Northern Oklahoma, they said the engine started to miss.  This happened 
while they were driving it.  They then stopped for gas, and after fueling, it 
still was missing.  They drove another 90 miles to Stillwater, OK, where they 
were to stay for the night.  They called me in the morning and I rented a 
trailer and drove my Powerstroke up to get the car.  When we started the car, I 
couldn't tell it was missing, and the friend that was driving the car said that it 
wasn't making the noise that it was making the previous evening.  We drove it 
on the trailer and hauled it the rest of the way to Dallas.  When here, I 
started it and drove it off the trailer, around the block and into the garage.  
It seemed to smoke a bit when I started it, at least that is what it smelled 
like, as it was dark and I couldn't see all that well.  I ran it around the 
block, and up into 3rd gear and it ran about like normal, I didn't notice a 
noticeable miss.  When I let it back to idle, it started to miss, like it was 
loading up.  I parked it in the garage and didn't run it again.  I pulled the spark 
plugs, and they were very dirty, and were old JC Penney plugs.  I remember 
changing the plugs on a couple of my Corvairs, but I evidently I didn't change 
them on this one since I bought it 4 years and 7000 miles ago.  I know this 
because I didn't have JC Penney spark plugs, and it wasn't as hard to change the 
plugs on the 140hp and 180hp engines as it is on this 110hp.

Today, I bought a compression tester.  Here are the results on a cold engine.

# 1        150
# 2        160
# 3        150
# 4          60
# 5        160
# 6        150

Obviously, #4 is not good.  This is what JR thought after my posts stating 
that my brother and his friend thought the bad cylinder was #6.  

So, what do I do?  Does this indicate that the valve seat is thinking about 
coming out?  There are no bad mechanical noises coming from the engine that I 
heard.  I don't suppose that a piece of carbon could have broken loose and 
caused the valve to stick open a bit.  (I know, wishful thinking)  Does this mean 
the engine has to come out or can you take the drivers side head off with the 
engine in the car?  Either way, it isn't very good as I don't have a garage 
set up to work on the thing.  

I appreciate the assistance and advise, you guys have always been very 
graceful and willing to help those of us who are less experienced. 

I suppose I should also ask if there is anyone in the Dallas area that works 
on Corvairs?

Thanks for the help.

Todd "Formerly Corvair MN President, now a Texan without a running Corvair" 
Miller