Re: johnson 225 looper engine
Was the compression test done with the engine up to temp or cold? It should be done with it warmed up. As Boobie said, a decarb may help. Those engine have low compression by design, although one cylinder is lower than the rest and would not meet the spec. for even compression in all cylinders.
The rebuild is not difficult if you have good mechanical skills and the proper tools to check the components. Depending on what needs to be done and how far you want to go with the rebuild , it can get expensive. A complete rebuild of the powerhead and carbs could easily cost $2k. Of course if you just want to fix what must be fixed then it will be much less, or you can just run it and hope it lasts until you get your money out of it. I don't know what your paying for this, but I would run it and if it's reliable maybe clean/rebuild the carbs and replace the fuel lines. Get a factory manual not one of the aftermarket ones. Also, was this a fresh or saltwater engine? If it's been in the salt all these years some things are not going to come apart easily.
