Greetings!

After a hiatus I was able to come back to this project fresh. Despite relatively low compression numbers, I believe that the engine should be able to start and run. I decided to test the fuel system more thoroughly as follows.

I connected spare injection lines to the IP. Then I connected the injectors to the spare lines so they sprayed outside of the engine into plastic containers where I could watch them. With a friend cranking, (long enough to fill the injection lines), I observed that only the 2nd cylinder injector was spraying. Then, I removed the injectors from the lines and cranked again, noting a squirt of fuel coming from each and every open injector line as the engine cranked. Must be the injectors, right?

Well I contacted my mechanic, who lent me 6 spare used injectors to try out. I replaced ALL 5 and yet again the 2nd line was the only one that sprayed. To be sure, I switched # 2 and 3 injectors, and confirmed 2 was still the only one that sprayed, regardless of what injector was connected to the line.

So working the fuel system from the injectors backward, I believe this test confirms that there is an issue with the pump. Before I tear it out and swap in another and run the test again, what do y'all think? Is my test sound? What would cause the IP to only reach popping pressure on the second line alone? Thanks everyone!