MG Car Repair: stuck valves on 1500 engine in 1975 mg midget, wd 40, valve action

Question
i recently was given a 1975 mg midget. it has been sitting a long time, but the engine will turn over, but not start.a compression check shows no compression in cyl. #'s 1 and 4. i suspect that the valves are stuck. is there anything that i can do short of removing the head.  also is it possible to install the rotor cap incorrectly??  thanks jim moore , kent ohio

Answer
Hi Jim,
You can remove the valve cover and rotate the engine and watch the valves of #1 and #4 cylinders to see if they are moving up and down like the others are. If they do seem to not come all the way up this is noted by the rocker arms being very loose and an excess valve clearance is noted in any of the valves on 1 or 4. If so you can spray something like WD-40 on the stem area and bump the valve down with a plastic hammer or if you don't have a plastic hammer use the handle of a regular hammer and keep spraying it with WD-40. Don't hit the collar of the valve, only hit the rocker arm.

If the valve action seems normal and valve clearance is normal you probably have burned valves or a lot of rust on the valve face and seat.

The distributor cap is keyed and can only go on one way.

Howard