Hi guys and girls,

I have got a RR 3.5 V8. on a c plate. Having major troubles getting it to start. I have had it running once and ran very rough. Replaced the battery, plugs, leads, cap and arm. Got a good(ish) spark and fuel in the cylinders. The leads are in the correct sequence. But it refuses to start. get a bit farting out of the air box now and then. and some minor firing. Played with the dizzy in all possible ways.
The dizzy is the kind with a cog type centre rather than the average hex type with points. Any ideas would be appriecated.
Need to get it running so i can sell it.

do a compression test and see if there is a major problem.

assuming all is well with the engine, if you have fuel and a spark, then the timimg must be out.

My money would also be on the timing.
I had exactly the same symptoms at the weekend (the Rangie, not me!) which was down to my own silly fault after having taken the distributor out and forgotten that I'd moved the engine off TDC.
Easy enough to sort out though.

Just rotate the crank to TDC (check the markers on the pulley wheel against the indicator). I found this easier to do after taking off the viscous fan and the plastic radiator shroud.
Take out the distributor (with the cap off) and turn the shaft so that the rotor arm points about 120 degrees to the right (when viewed from the front of the engine).
Have a look at the slot in the base of the drive, below the gears. This is where the oil pump drive slots into. Make sure that the oil pump key that fits this slot is turned so that it will be in approximately the right position when the distributor is put back in. A case of peering down the hole with a torch and tweaking the drive with the end of a spanner - just don't drop it inside!
Now turn the shaft so that arm is at about 90 degrees (plus a bit) and carefully re-insert the distributor. The helical gears will cause the rotor arm to move around to about 120 degrees.
Bolt it down and job done.

Hope this quick guide helps out. If you've got a Haynes manual then it's all in there - and described far better than I can do here!