Thanks again to another strong response = from the list
Everyone contributed something = different so I have a wealth of knowledge to draw from and have found all advice tendered, = relevant and helpful
Thankyou
 
Here is a summary of where I'm up = to (My whole day really, what the hell !)
 
1: 48hrs after washing, bright sunny = day, 11.00am
Try to start the car, battery low, get = a kick from the engine, a really good sign
2: Battery dead so decide the kick is = worth rolling her off away from home and trying the hill start.
3: No response so I disconnect all = leads, pull the rotor out of the distributor, leave it all across the back on the engine = lid to dry in the sun, close her up and walk back up the hill for a coffee and = a call to a friend. Its a beautiful day here in Armidale.
4: My friend turns up about half an = hour later and we go down and jump the battery.
5: She fires on full throttle with the revs ever so slowly climbing at full throttle for about 1 minute. = White smoke whisping out the back. (water in the air intake or hopelessly out = of tune/ignition timing?)
6. Turn her round and head back up the = hill on heavy throttle in first. (only has good power at med-high = rpm)
7. Went round to my friends place to = have some lunch, do some gardening and tackle a sheep to put it back over the = fence  into next door. ( It was a match saver ). It's now night = time
8: She now starts easy, idle's well but = extremely rough when the gas is fed in untill she climbs her way out of it. I let = her run for about 20mins but no improvement. Might get the hairdryer up there tomorrow.
9: One thing I noticed was that the = base of the plastic plug that comes out of the distributor to the hall sender is = brittle and has actually snapped but the three wires seem to be connected ok inside. = Could this affect the timing??? Something to check later. She sounds like = she's running on three at low rpm. If its dampness, why would it clean out at = high? Any thoughts about the whispy white smoke?
 
Dominic :)