350 problems

A friend of mine has a 97 half ton Chevy pickup with a 350 in it. The motor was rebuilt a year ago. The other day it started running rough. So he tried all the easy tune up stuff. Nothing helped. He then sent it to a mechanic who called yesterday and said that their was no compression in the #1 cylinder and weak compression in #8. Does anyone know what the weak link in this motor is that might cause this problem? We are hoping for something in the top of the motor so it won’t require a complete rebuild because if it does the truck will have to be parked for now.

No one wants to defend the bow tie? How about this, does any one know how hard it would be to swap in a respectable motor in to this truck? By respectable I mean like a 360 or a Cummings? This motor must be a piece of crap. I can’t even get any Chevy guys to help me with it. It must be hopeless to get one running reliably.