need help w getting spark

[Piper]

A bit of history on our Mk2. It was badly vandalized and all gauges, switches are broken/smashed. The distributor caps are good and we're in the process of redoing the wire ends that attach to the plugs. Today we replaced the 8 spark plugs. We'd like to do is see if the motor will fire and then go from there. With the new battery and fixed starter, the engine turns and we get compression as listed below.
cyl 1 - 30
cyl 2 - 0
cyl 3 - 0
cyl 4 - 85
cyl 5 - 90
cyl 6 - 60
cyl 7 - 0
cyl 8 - 0

Not promising values. The carrier has sat since 1985 outside, unprotected. We did dump about 4 or 5 ounces of diesel into each cylinder a month ago to loosen things up so we're hoping that the pressure will improve. I'm doubtful especially with the 0 cylinders. I'm wondering about a few things.
1. can we simply 'jump start' this carrier as the wiring is so bad? If so, how?
2. are there suggested parts within the distributor that we should automatically replace?
3. are these parts commonly available? (we do have all 3 manuals fyi)
4. we haven't done a leak down test on the cylinders but are there common problems that occur we could look into?

This carrier belongs to our local legion and if we can get it running, even poorly, then we're going to do a fund raising campaign in order to pay for the work needed. We feel that a running carrier will be more attractive to donors.

Any info appreciated.

Cameron