318 Won't Start? And I tested as much as I could I think?

Yes, the coil won't make as good a spark when reversed, as said. Simple.... but not what you would expect. Just part of the issues. I bet it will run better all around, and now you have done a lot of testing to get a good baseline for the future. If you read enough threads, you'll notice that the guys who have done this for a while can recite things like cranking compression on this engine or that from memory.

Good synopsis!