Stop in for a cup of coffee

didn't even fire, just cranked.
then you are not doing something right. The coil has three connections, one to the center of cap is obvious. the other are + and - the - goes to the dist lead. The + is batt positive. If you ran a good 12volt wire from the batt directly, no way it does not spark. If the points are set correctly...And dist is good.....And coil is good....