compression

Why are you asking this question? What makes you think it won't start because of a compression problem?

Actually compression can keep a car from starting. Had a problem with my '53 Merc flathead with the high compression heads. It was a case of lowering, not increasing the compression to get it to crank.

In the case of a worn engine, sometimes a shot of oil in the cylinder would boost compression enough to start it, but it would belch smoke and foul the plugs and start a new set of problems.

Yes but in the case of too much compression the engine will usually labor to even turn over.

It has to be very - very low compression for the engine not to start though. I simply wondered why the OP was going down this path. He provided no other information in this thread. Though... he did provide more in another thread that indicated he has no spark. That's not a cause to look at compression.

If he gets the compression high enough, he can run it as a diesel

Correctemundo. I'm thinking a squirt of gorilla glue down the cylinders to fill up all the compression leaks and a nice 4 cylinder from a '71 Pinto mounted in place of the starter motor, as a pony motor. Maybe a couple of loops of steel banding wrapped around the heads too - just to keep them in place with that new compression ratio...