Nate, a compression gage is $10 at almost any local parts store. Go buy one, pull all 8 plugs with the engine hot, block the carb at full throttle(wide open), and take a reading from each cylinder. have a squirt can of oil handy, and after each "dry reading" pump a squirt or two in the cylinder, and retest. Write down the dry and wet for each cylinder on a scrap of paper. If the readings are more than 10% varied from the lowest to the highes,I wouldnt put any money into it until you figure out why. If they are all close, but low (say under 120psi), the cam may be ok sized, but not in right. Or there could be a mechanical reason like bad timing chain, oil pump drive, etc. causing it. Your choice at that point is fix what you have, or just buy what you think will work. I've rescued a bunch of lazy engines by simply degreeing the exisiting cam and putting it back together. Most shops do not degree a cam unless you tell them to.
