1984 9.9 Chrylser (Sea King) questions

[Bullie]

I picked up a 1984 Chrysler Sea King 9.9 model VWB52299D today as a project. Looks like it will be one. I started tinkering with it this afternoon and I couldn't get it to shift into reverse. It goes in neutral and forward fine. I dropped the LU to see what I could see and could only get reverse to engage one time with the shift rod. What should I do?

I checked the water pump while I was in the LU, all good there. LU lube looks new. It has no spark but I should probably worry about that after I find out if the LU is goofed up right?

 

[Bullie]

Update. Lower Unit is fine. No issues there.

Concerning the little Chrysler (Sea King) 9.9... After attention to the points and ground connections the motor now has good spark (7/16+). I removed and cleaned the carb then reinstalled. I chased air leaks in the fuel lines and replaced the line from the fuel pump to the carburetor with a clear line and added a inline fuel filter. All that is now good. I picked up my 3rd compression gauge in a week today. The first two were "nice" ones from Harbor Freight. I couldn't get either of them to register anything over 60 lbs even on a motor I know to have 125 lbs compression. So, picked up a 3rd gauge from Auto Zone this afternoon. The bad news is that the top cylinder has about 105lbs compression and the bottom has 85lbs. I had been doing all this tinkering without knowing the actual compression.

All that said, after the carb cleaning and new fuel lines I pumped the bulb up tight and she fired right off. I didn't want to fill the barrel again tonight so I shut it right back down. So, now I don't know what to do. Am I wasting my time with this motor thinking it will ever run well again or should I keep chipping away at the little stuff and maybe get it running with the lopsided compression readings? Need some advice.

 

[Bullie]

[h=2][/h]

Also, does anyone know the model my Sea King corresponds to in the Chrysler lineup? I have seen several different models in 9.9 listed for Chrysler in 1984. Any help?​

 

[Bullie]

I replaced all the fuel lines after finding several little holes, but I guess 31 years is decent service life. I installed a clear hose from the fuel pump to the carb. I can get very little gas to exit the fuel pump no matter how tightly I pump the bulb. The tank fuel line is new also and pumps gas well.

Ok. I am very green at this but this was my thought process for landing on the fuel pump as the problem. I get very little fuel outflow from the pump even when pumping up the bulb. The fuel line from the pump to the carb is clear and I can see big air bubbles in the line that I can't pump out with the bulb. I am getting very tiny spurts...very small... through the pump but, even so, I managed to flood the engine so badly that the top of my barrel changed color with fuel and oil when I tried to start it. I assumed (Yeah, I know what that means) that I was forcing fuel from the pump into the crank case and flooding it. Does that make any sense?

I had to let the motor sit for about 45 minutes with the plugs out for the fuel to evaporate. Then it started up and ran pretty good...good enough that I was attempting to adjust the idle when I noticed the gas emptying from the fuel line and tried to pump the bulb back up... to no avail. The bulb was still reasonably firm and only tiny little spurts were coming out of the pump with each squeeze and none before I tried squeezing the bulb. Maybe there is a filter incorporated into the pump and it is clogged.... I donno.

Does this shed any light on what might be the issue if not the fuel pump?