Dan, I watched the video in its entirety. I missed the ecu part, will have to watch again. I was too busy looking at his dirty hands.

I did see the notch on the pulley end. I will have to paint it white as it is very difficult to distinguish. At some point, I will try to move the distributor around to see what happens with performance.

Jim, you are on the YouTube video. At about 18 minutes in he demonstrates how to set the timing using a timing light.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do4Dn2Z9qys

Things to note: the top tooth on the notched scale represents TDC. Based on his video, you are about 16 degrees before TDC and you typically want about 8 to 10 degrees.

He has a text caption on his video: " If your car has an ECU (eg SPI and MPI minis) then the computer sets the ignition advance. You are done setting the timing. You don’t need to set mechanical advance." 

I don't know if your car does that, and it is beyond my knowledge anyway.

Distributors typically have a set mechanical advance curve determined by the fly-weights and springs. They top out at something like 34 degrees full advance. The curve is designed to match the physical construction of the engine - compression ratio, cam profile etc. Short of messing about with springs and weights, there's not much you could do with what you have.

Years ago I bought one of the first generation 123 Electronic ignitions - basically a smart dizzy. Instead of weights and springs, it has 16 programmed curves. You select the curve best suited to your engine - there are recommendations. However as Marcel Chichak (who developed the curves etc for Minis) says, the suggested curves may not be best for your engine - try different ones to see which one works best. Your engine will tell you which one.(That's because no two engines are exactly alike, and they all get modified from stock.) 

Another neat thing was that it has built-in internal timing lights. To install it you set the engine (turned off) at top dead centre, then turn the 123 until a light comes on. The really neat thing is that the curves are all designed to have zero advance until the engine reaches 500rpm, whereupon the curve comes on, setting your initial idle advance. This makes the engine really easy to start. From there on each curve has a different shape. 

Later versions of the 123 are fully programmable, meaning you could design your own curve. That is WAY beyond me!

Thanks Dan for your support, the mini is running fine now; after a slight mistake in switching the # 3 & #4  spark plug wires. There was this awful banging sound when I had it backwards. The bell housing is sealed shut but I did find these little pointy things at the pulley side. I also found a "V' grooved into the pulley. Tonight I put a timing light onto the pulley and saw that the v was at the second pointy thing up from the bottom. I'm wondering if that is the correct position

How I set the distributor on this new engine was to measure the distributor from the original engine, which was never altered.

I guess I could try out each pointy setting to see how well the mini performs. I do have the #2 setting to fall back on.

You said you have a distributor. Assuming it is a stock item and not electronic, it basically functions with mechanical advance . THe vacuum advance if any is an economy device to advance timing at idle to allow a leaner idle (with a carb). I don't know how or if it connects to a throttle body or intake manifold of a SPI car, or if you need to cap something up there.

If you can't see any timing marks at the pulley end, there should be marks on the flywheel showing 1/4 for when those pistons are at TDC. The other thing you need to know is if both valves on cylinder 1 are closed. The "simple" way is to put your thumb over the spark plug hole to feel for pressure buildup as the piston comes up. A better way is to remove the rocker cover and verify that both the intake and exhaust rockers are not compressed. 

The other bit of advice is to always rotate the engine in its forward direction to eliminate any gear lash/play.

The next step is to verify that the rotor is pointing toward the dizzy cap terminal for cylinder 1 and you have the wires strung properly. that the wire to Cylinder 1 is  on the right cap terminal and the firing order is respected.

Once you have the timing set to 0 advance on cylinder one, the engine should start. If not, loosen the dizzy enough to turn it in the advance direction until the idle smooths out.

Look up the advance spec for your engine. If you don't find one and nobody chimes in, you can do it "old school": once the engine is warmed up and idling, slowly advance the timing until the rpms begin to droop. Note the position.  Then retard the timing until the same thing happens. Set the timing between the droop points. Note: if you have vacuum advance, disconnect and cap it for this procedure.

How do I time my SPI engine? The engine was rebuilt. The engine builder did not run the engine. I placed the distributor in the approximate location. Rotor pointing upward and to the right (approximately 1 o'clock) Used the screw driver method to find TDC with the number one cylinder valves even (power stroke).

How do I time this SPI engine? Thanks Jim