Rebuilt 318 Refuses to Start

I have recently rebuilt my 318 after it spun a bearing. It is a highly modified engine meant for street/strip use.

It will not start. We have spark, compression and fuel to the carburetor. It cranks and cranks but no start. Once in a while it will cough, but it's intermittent. I have put the long mark on the harmonic balancer to TDC and verified that the piston is actually at TDC on this point with a screwdriver and with the valve-cover off looking at the rocker arms. I've tried starting it from TDC with no luck. I've tried starting it ~8degrees advanced and retarded to no luck. We've always rotated the distributor all the way during these times to no avail. I am running a full MSD ignition system with a Holley 650 double pumper carb with 5.5lbs of fuel pressure to the rail.

We are unsure if gas is actually getting into the cylinders though. It's going through the carburetor because I can see the gas squirting in it, but when I pull the plugs, they're dry. However, when I pull the carburetor which is sometimes full of gas from pumping it, the intake will have a little bit of gas in it. Sidenote: The carburetor is a newly rebuilt piece with less than 600miles on it.

It still refuses to start and I've been working on it for like 3 days just on this stupid timing aspect. Does anybody have any ideas?