Greetings guys,

Just joined up at the suggestion of one of the Fordbarn (hope I can say that here) members. I'm not new to old Fords but I am new to y's. I recently bought a '55 Merc (see avatar) that has the original 292. It runs, but not well and I don't know it's past other than it's clean inside and has good oil pressure. I just vacuum tested it and it's low and fluctuating rapidly between about 5 and 10". This would seem to point to valves and I do have some noisy ones. Anybody here in the Tullahoma/southern middle TN area know a good machine shop or 2 I could take it to for a freshening up? I'm going to try a valve adjustment this weekend, but I'm thinking the heads at least will probably need a rebuild. Any leads much appreciated.