Question: My car is 1962 Bentley S2 D Series. I purchased the car in June 2015 - it was running but suffering from overheating and weeping from telltale holes in crankcase (indicating failure of cylinder liner seals). I have just completed major rebuild of the V8 engine including: Removal of cylinder liners and cleaning out of waterways - and everything that arises from such a rebuild (cleaning skim of heads, new gaskets and valve stem seals etc etc). So, ready for the big start... Good fuel supply to carbs (not touched during rebuild). New condenser, contact breaker points and rotor arm. (static timing carefully set up in accordance with workshop manual instructions including synchronization of points using A1 and B4 TDC marks on flywheel). Nice fat spark at all cylinders. (new coil, HT leads, spark plugs). Turns over, occasional dull popping but very little indication that it is going to run... I suspect that it is something to do with the timing set-up but I can't for the life of me think what I have done wrong/failed to do... Any ideas or suggestions gratefully received! I am wondering whether new (original type) valve stem seals could cause valves to stick - is that possible? I just don't know what else might be causing this problem... Is it possible to be 180 degrees out when the A1 TDC mark on the flywheel is on the pointer and the rotor arm is pointing to the A1 position on the distributor? The flywheel turns at the same rate as the rotor arm, no? Am I being thick? (I think I might be...)

Answer: Good afternoon, our mechanic has suggested that it is very easy to get the Distributor 180 degrees out. He would suggest turning it around and trying it. It's still possible to be 180 out. The best way to be sure is to remove the A bank rocker cover, and check the position of the valves and piston on a1. Many thanks.

Follow up: Success! Thank you very much for the advice. The distributor was 180 degrees out! This is possible because for every two rotations of the crankshaft the rotor arm only rotates once! So with all the care (if sometimes subtle) that has gone into ensuring that you can only reassemble the torus and flywheel one way there is no similar protection from mis-assembling the distributor. Anyway my engine started first time after major rebuild and initially noisy hydraulic tappets (not changed or messed with!) have settled down into lovely quiet running. Engine temperature is also now rock solid (which was the whole point of the exercise - to cure hot running) oil pressure seems good.