just wondering if anyone would have an idea why a a12 would take ages to start
has spark and good battery fuel pump is good, i suspect bad carburettor,carbi was recently replaced with ebay chinese carbi tuned by a pro but. also not flooding because carbi is set abit leaner

turns over very strong i crank for about 30 seconds full trottle wont start
i stop the car and wait about 10seconds then kick it again and wont start
if i crank and flap the peddle full throttle it starts to pick up and will eventually startup and then runs perfect

anyone have any ideas what the problem might be?
what steps can i take to see where the problem is coming from

Sounds to me like u have an air leak into ur fuel system somewhere that is letting it drain back to ur tank and relying on ur pump to lift it back to the carby

Try checking out the pump circuit. Plunger might be sus, or fuel pathway semi blocked.

Thinking more about the scenario, confirm the distributor advance control. Are the bob weights returning to allow the static base timing? The ignition timing may be way off.

Just want to get the obvious out of the way.

Is the choke hooked up and working correctly?

You should start trouble shooting with a tune up. Plugs, points, condenser and filters. Check timing

Does the Fuel Leak out at the two drain bolts at t he bottom of the carburettor? How well does it run all day?Double check the Dizzy timing,Could need to be advanced.

fuel filter was blocked but i fixed that next morning i went to start it and it wouldnt start at all just kept cranking and nothing happened even holding the throttle down, i stop and wait about 10 secs then crank again nothing then if i do that again it seems to eventually start up and run, it used to take only acoupe seconds to get it running,

after i start it up and get it warmed up maybe 30 mins drive then wait 1 hour it will start straight away if i wait till its fully cold it wont start up again

Have you check your timing ?

Just another thing you can check or actually replace is the condenser on your dizzy assuming it is a standard points dizzy and the contact breakers are good. make sure of the airgap on your contact breakers, if you change the gap, the timing has to be corrected.

if i put abit of petrol into the barrel of the carbi it starts straight away any ideas?

Is the float level correct when it does'n want to start, check the float level (check in the tech wiki Fuel system/carburettor adjustment)