[FA-18C]

I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I decided to pull the fan and housing to clean them up this weekend. Prior to this my 70E had been running pretty well, showing 115mph at about 5000 rpm, still chasing some popping at idle which I have narrowed down to air adjustment imbalance (haven't got the nerve to jump in there yet). so anyways, get everything out and cleaned up to a reasonable but not white glove degree and re-assembled the whole shebang. while I was at it I replaced the cap, rotor and the points (worn). this was done primarily to baseline the car for future troubleshooting ( a realist). Well after getting everything back together and cleaning up I go to start the car and nothing...The starter turns over but no start...very gassy smell and the buzzing from my fuel pump makes me thing i am getting gas soo...Thinking I may have a bad ground fromt he alternator I re-check that, re-assemble, and have gone through a couple of iterations of new and old coil/cap/rotor etc.. At first the starter would just chug along like no spark, then it started to kind of gallop, coupld of quick turns then slow, then my battery gives out. Oh yeah, also just installed NGK BP7ES plugs (new) so the connectors are all snug. My instincts are no spark....any suggestions are VERY appreciated as Ive thrown the towel in in prep for the superbowl.