87 4.0 still not firing consistently

[billyboyxoxox]

The truck started and ran with the old distributor in it last week for one trip to town where it started perfectly all five times I stopped. Then it died on the way home and hasn't fired normally or started again. I just put a new ignition switch from Napa in it this morning because the old one failed to turn it over with the key switch. I've been testing the ignition terminal on the starter relay and it hasn't shown power yet. The CPS registers .8-1.0 volts and is a new Napa part as well. I've checked and cleaned grounds all over the place. The ECU is a newly remanufactured one and I'm assuming good. I get a spark from the coil for a brief moment when I let off with my starter relay jumper but not every time and sometimes I can feel a light voltage from the coil but not enough to make me jump. It's a new coil and ICU. I've cut the aligning tabs off of the new distributor for Cruiser54's tip 13 indexing but I need to understand something. In that tip he says to "rotate the distributor housing until the trailing edge of the distributor rotor tip is just departing from the #1 spark plug wire post terminal." It turns clockwise when running so does that mean to turn the distributor with the cutout window counter clockwise until the right side of the rotor tip is just past the no.1 terminal or clockwise until the left side of the rotor tip is just arriving at the no.1 terminal? I had the rotor tip pretty much centered on the no.1 terminal when it ran. I don't think my problem is there but I don't know anything for sure. Something is keeping it from firing and after two weeks of this, working by myself, I'm pretty tired of it. Also, the C101 connector was done away with before it did run. Any helpful ideas will be greatly appreciated!

[billyboyxoxox]

Get this. I just put the old distributor back in and forgot to plug the harness back together and she started right up! I plugged it back together after it started and it ran for 5 minutes before it died. Now it's back to what it was doing with the coil not firing consistently. I am so close but so far from getting this figured out. Grounds soldered together from the old C101 and cleaned up everywhere I can find them. The fuel pump ground even has the upgrade to the frame. This has got to be something really simple and right under my nose. I guess I can appreciate the experience but it's gone on way too long and I need my truck to run again!  Any ideas anybody?

[cruiser54]

The rotor is going clockwise. It needs to be just past the terminal. Did you see the pic?