Alright this is the deal, i have an 88 gxl that hasnt run since i bought it in may of this year. It's a beautiful car but the motor won't run, apex seals. It was a repo and i think someone had overheated it while it was in between the bank and me so i got it for relatively cheap. Either way, i have a friend that knows a guy with a motor sittin in his garage. It looks like he's gonna sell it to me for under 200. It's sittin collecting dust so he has no need for it. Is there any way to test the compression before i get the motor in the car or even buy it for that matter? I'm way more excited that I should be so i'm just ready to buy it and try it out but i would be very dissapointed if i found out that it didn't even run. I plan on buying a rebuild in the next year or so but i need to get this car on the road very soon. Any imput would be very helpful, thanks in advance.

 

There's no real way to test the compression, but at least you can listen to it and see if it's not blown.

Remove the spark plugs, and turn the engine over by hand. For every half turn of the shaft, you should get a "chug" out of the plug holes. So three turns should make 6 chugs. If you get nice strong chugs, then the engine's probably in decent shape.

Also, sniff the oil to make sure it's not burnt and smell for excessive fuel.

Probably want to lubricate the engine by squirting a little oil into the plug holes before you do the "chug" test.

 

I actually saw a pretty cool way to do it at work. You'll have to strip some stuff off and mount it to an engine mount. Have the front plate facing down.

put a bell housing on the end of it, throw in a starter and find a battery. The rest should be intuitive.

Hopefully you have access to this equipment.