Mine works great with the stock setup, so I'd try with your rotor at 0 degrees and see if you can at least get it to fire. A drilled cap can then be used to verify phasing.
That's a thought. I don't like straying from instructions, tho. Id like to understand what I'm doing wrong. I also don't understand why I am not getting spark from the unit, but can get it by grounding the MSD box.
