Ok, I'm starting a new thread so we don't clog up the 2-stroker's troubleshooting issue. So, Kaybear pointed out that removing the spark plug from the engine will lower the compression to maybe 4:1, and since the hole is pretty small the force felt is lower (same pressure, but less area). A question then. The experiments from my youth were performed with a bicycle pump and my thumb. The pump's opening was maybe 1/2", but since a schroeder valve only just fits inside that hole, 1/2" might be generous. Call it 1/2. As Kaybear said, the area of that hole is just about 0.197in^2. At the time, I was only just barely able to hold 40psi (measured on the gauge on the pump, and this gauge was pretty accurate as I recall). So if I've got this right, I should have been feeling 40*0.197lb force on my thumb? That's less than 8lb! I mean, I can suspend an 8lb weight from my thumb, but then I'm not asking it to seal against gas pressure then. The failure in that case wasn't that my thumb couldn't press against the fitting, but that air would begin to leak past one side or another. But if this is reasonable, how is it that one can hold the compression of the engine at 11lb? Maybe I should repeat the experiments now that I'm fully-grown...Maybe my memory is just fooling me-that wouldn't be a surprise, but maybe something else is going on here?
