Originally Posted by Sport400inOH

It should have reeds (Nearly all 2 strokes do) - they are between the intake manifold and the cylinder (You have to remove the carb and the intake manifold to get to them. You want to make sure that they are all there (None missing, warped or cracked) and that they are sitting shut (No gaps).

If you are able to find a reliable compression tester, you want to see at least 100psi after a couple revolutions. 100 is the MINIMUM that will run and does indiciate that a rebuild is in order. A freshly rebuilt (Mostly stock) engine should register between 140-160 psi.

When I torque down a head, I set my torque wrench to 1/4 of the specified torque. I always go in a criss-cross pattern. Once all head nuts are torqued, I then go to 3/4 of spec'd torque (Again in a criss cross pattern). Then I go to full spec and criss-cross 1 last time. Once I run the engine for a few minutes, I let it cool completely and retorque 1 last time.