420A Cylinder 3 misfire? wtf!

[PlanZero]

I've had my 420a for almost a year now and have always had a cylinder 3 misfire code. I changed the plugs, wires and coil pack a couple months ago and the code went off for three days, then came back, this time blinking occasionally. I got a compression test done and cyl 3 is only at 50, 80 wet. The thing is, the car runs great, especially after I put the recommended plugs in. The CEL stays on, and seems to only blink when I'm idle; once I get moving the blinking stops. According to the Haynes manual, the CEL only blinks during active misfire, and when I check my codes, I usually have two- one for cyl 3 misfire detected, one for cyl 3 misfire confirmed. Is there any way I'm only misfiring at idle, possibly explaining the bad test results? Shouldn't the CEL blink continuously if there's a constant misfire? I'm pretty sure I'd notice a loss of power if I was always running on 3.5 cylinders (yeah, I know it's only a 420a; make a joke). I've tried flushing the engine and using motor restore in case it was only sticking, but the CEL persists. I'm stumped.

 

[boost97gst]

Do a leakdown test to see if its the valves or the rings. Sounds like rings. I ran on 185,90,185, 185 for possibly thousands of miles and fought that weird intermittent cyl misfire. It still pulled like a freight train. You are going to be rebuilding something soon.
While everything is out, start going through the wiring as well. You could have a wiring issue as well. First things first, tear that thing down and rebuild it.

I know in domestics like fords/lincolns a blinking cel means a pretty severe misfire.

 

[PlanZero]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention; leakdown test showed valves and HG are good. It's definitely the ring. Here's the deal. I have no garage to properly work on this vehicle and this is my DD, and I've apparently had this problem for almost 8k miles (who knows how long before I got the car). Not to mention it's only a 420a. how long can i drive like this? i was just about to put headers and new coilovers on, and it's not even possible for me to do a rebuild; i just don't have the resources. What exactly do you mean ( boost97gst) by "You are going to be rebuilding something soon"? Now I'm freaking a little.