whoooah there pardner. YOu may be jumping to conclusions. The compression doesn't look that bad to me. What kind of oil are you using and did you switch brands lately? The hydraulic valve adjusters on that engine are very oil sensitive. If you happened to switch to a thicker oil it might be just that alone making a tick.

On my 84 500sec when I first got it I put in rotella on my first oil change and immediately got a hydraulic lash adjuster pumping up slowly and making a valve train tick. I switched to mobil one 10w30 and the tick was gone forever.

Before pulling the head I would try mobil one 10w30 and see what happens. The compression is within what I would consider normal variance, 20% which would be over 30# variance allowable.

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.