Rob, are the plug wires all set up in the correct firing order?
I hesitate to even ask because you're smarter than I am at this stuff, but it looks like you've got everything else right on the money, so I gotta think that the problem will turn out to be something simple like that.

HEY ROB , THOSE MARKS SHOW THAT YOUR TIMING MARKS ARE DEAD ON, YOU CAIN,T GET THEM ANY BETTER THAN THAT, IF YOU ARE SURE YOU HAVE FUEL PRESS , GIVE THIS A TRY , YOU WILL PROB HAVE TO REMOVE THE DIST CAP TO DO THIS, THE BRACKET THAT THE DIST GOES THRU IS NON ADJUSTABLE IT IS HELD TO THE HEAD BY AN 8 MM BOLT TAKE THIS BOLT OUT AND THIS WILL LET YOU ROTATE THE DIST BACK A GOOD BIT FARTHER TO SEE IF IT WILL HIT AND STAY RUNNING, IF IT DOES RUN OR AT LEAST TRY AND RUN YOU HAVE A DIST TIMING PROB, BAD ROTOR , MISINDEXED CAP ,ALLSO TAKE A LOOK IN SIDE THE DIST CAP AND MAKE SURE THE CENTER CARBON PIN HASN,T FELL OUT ,
WITH THE LOCK BOLT OUT OF THE DIST,JUST TWIST IT BACK ABOUT 1/2 IN AND HOLD ON TO IT AND HAVE SOMEONE SEE IF IT WILL START AND STAY RUNNING, UNLESS THE ORING IS IN GOOD SHAPE IT MAY TRY AND TWIST BY ITSELF.
JERRY

I've seen a couple of the after-market distributor caps
have the contact hole where the wire plugs in be in the correct spot, but on the inside of the cap, the rotor contact be at the wrong spot for the wire on the outside.

I can attest that the numbering on some of the aftermarket caps are wrong. When I first did the wires on my 88 I messed around with it for 20 minutes and ended up figuring out the wires were wrong.

Joe

Thanks guys... I'm happy to report, problem solved!

After double checking the base timing, I decided to go triple check the distributor. This time, per your advise, I didn't trust any markings or reference points, but lined the rotor up with the contacts under the cap and made my own marks. After I reinstalled everything, she fired right up, perfect as can be. I guess it was an incorrect distributer setting all along.

And now with the new headgasket, our RS is back in action. I did a leakdown test on it just to be absolutely sure I finally got rid of my orginal problem of inserting air into the coolent system. The leakdown test checked out with less than 20% on all cylinders and no bubbles in the radiator. Now that she's running again, I can concentrate on a few "improvements" <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />


Thanks everyone for your troubleshooting help!
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

-Rob