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I don't know about stretch doing that(that's a lot of vacuum and compression loss), but valve timing is very important. That you have both a low vacuum and low compression suggests something more than just a leaking gasket or other part.
Has any of the valvetrain work been done before on the engine? The SOHC has specific issues that need to be corrected in pre-2002 engines. Some people manage to get 150k miles out of them, some engines have gone south at 20k. If any of that had done before, they may have not set the cam timing properly. There are no timing marks, it is done entirely with special tools that locate the parts before tightening a bolt.
If you don't have any of that done yet then you might be wise to begin doing that. It would correct and verify the cam timing. Check out the other threads here about the SOHC "cam cassettes", it isn't a simple job.
Has any of the valvetrain work been done before on the engine? The SOHC has specific issues that need to be corrected in pre-2002 engines. Some people manage to get 150k miles out of them, some engines have gone south at 20k. If any of that had done before, they may have not set the cam timing properly. There are no timing marks, it is done entirely with special tools that locate the parts before tightening a bolt.
If you don't have any of that done yet then you might be wise to begin doing that. It would correct and verify the cam timing. Check out the other threads here about the SOHC "cam cassettes", it isn't a simple job.