Rover 3.5 V8 Carb (Issues)

[sgooduk]

Hi Guys,

I have a kit car running a rover 3.5 V8 wIth a holley carb, the engine is a 90's discovery engine originally equipped with a set of SU's

I am really struggling to get it to run well at all
I have reset the holley and changed the fuel pump as when i got the car it just didn't seem to want to keep running and stank of fuel (Running crazy rich). Also the rev counter would go erratic when the car was rev'd and didn't look to read correctly.

It then stopped starting....

So I pulled all the spark plugs out, cleaned them (they ere black), reset the holley to starting position mixture and bang it started but wont idle unless i keep the throttle in a little and have it idling around 1000 - 1100 rpm (900 ish when warm). What should it idle at?
However when reved the rev counter is erratic and it sounds very rough.
I then tried to get my strobe light with integrated tacho on it, but I get intermittent reading on cylinder one, give a reading then nothing same with actual strobe its intermittent.

I tried my other strobe light and that give me a light (it has no tacho) but it seemed a bit hit and miss too.

Also I cant find any timing marks on the bottom pulley I have also noticed the three wires going to the module on the side of the dizzy were loose, I have tightened them best I can, there also a spade connector on the side of the dizzy that connected to nothing, not sure if that's relevant or not.

Should I replace the coil, leads, plugs, cap and rotor arm? OR should I just rip it out

Any advice would defiantly be welcome as I am scratching my head a little.

Thanks

Scott

[ChrisJC]

If the rev counter is not working, then you must have a problem on the low tension side of the ignition system. Worth getting that sorted out before worrying about anything else.

Got any pictures of the distributor and the coil?

Chris.

[stevieturbo]

pointless firing the parts cannon.

I'd say your erratic rev counter is either the problem, or a symptom of the same problem on the LT side as mentioned above.

Without some proper tools to test spark, hard to suggest what the best route to take is. Check all wiring though, for loose or poor connections.

Find out what your mystery wire is.