I recently acquired a 79 Toyota pickup. The previous owner said it needed a new motor. I verified that i had spark and had to pour fuel into the carb because there is no fuel pump but it still wont start at all. It cranks just fine and has oil with no signs of metal or anything like that. I checked the compression on all four:
Cylinder 1: 25 psi
Cylinder 2: 25 psi
Cylinder 4: 50 psi
Cylinder 5: 50 psi
I would say it just needs a new motor after those findings but it just seems odd that all 4 would be that low and not just one or two. I checked valve adjustment and none of them seem to be too far tight or loose. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to check before i give up on it and install a new motor?

 

Cam timing, chain, and/or gears ok is the only thing I can think of that would make it across the board bad (other than a completely tired motor).

Did you try the teaspoon-of-oil-in-the-spark-plug hole trick to test the ring seal?