engine prob

[mark]

i havent had time to work on my project lately.its been sitting for a few weeks and i tried to start it on sat but all it did was crank.i left the key on last time it ran (bat was very low)and figured it burned the coil.(bb chevy eng with hei non comp controlled dist)i replaced the coil and still nothing.then i replaced the ign module and still nothing.finally went out and bought a good used complete dist locally.popped that in and still nothing.i have plenty of gas pumping through the carb and was still convinced i had no spark.that night my friend came by and i pulled a dist wire while he cranked and it had plenty of spark.now im really confused ,its very possible that the dist is in a tooth or 2 off now(but i dont think so)if i line the timing mark up on the damper shouldnt this be tdc?or will i have to pull # 1 plug?
i figured it would at least let out a backfire or something but nothing at all.
any other sugestions?

[oddfire]

It could also be TDC on the exhaust stroke. Pull plug #1.Put your thumb over the hole and have a friend bump over the engine { i have a remote starter switch, like 10 bucks at napa} untill you feel the compression. Have him bump it a little at a time. Now look at your timing mark and you should be real close to TDC......phil

[Aaron]

Maybe you just fouled the plugs messing with it.
I think if the distributer was 180'd it'd backfire and carry on.