This is what I'm running:

and I'm not getting any spark. (I've changed that schematic a little, but not much, but it is something that I made, so it definitely could have imperfections.)

My current wiring for the ignition system goes from the battery to 20A fuse (tried direct wiring, too) to the negative side of the trailing coil (yellow/green wire). Once connecting with this coil, the yellow/green wire continues to, I believe, a pickup coil in the distributor.
Another wire (yellow/blue) comes out of a pickup coil and connects to the negative side of the leading coil.
Both coils have a black/white wire on them on the positive side, and so does each pickup coil, that I have connected to a ground. The ground is very strong.
Most of that I gathered from my Chilton and the shop manual.

Is there something that should be between the negative terminal of the trailing coil and the battery that I am missing? Is all of my wiring wrong?

The motor ran well before I pulled it out of the car, but I snipped and pulled the system and am now without the car for reference .
Any suggestions?

Forgot:
not getting spark out of any cables
tried the MSD wires that I built and the wires that were on the car

 

The trailing and leading coil's + terminals need 12volts for it torun (thats provided you connected the coil to igniter wires correctly).

Safety comes first so I always use an automotive relay and a 12V from the ignition (Key on ON) to trigger the relay.

 

Yeah, don't have a relay inline right now.
So that means black/white should be going to the battery and not yellow/green?
I never disconnected the coils from the igniter, so those wires shouldn't be swapped.

 

black/white stripe is your 12V which is the common wire to the igniter as well. btw, are you working on an school?

 

Am I working on it at school? No, just tooling in my garage. I'll get a couple pics up today or tomorrow, but the engine end of the project I am trying to finish before the end of the month.

 

Rewired it like this:

and it's sparking, just doesn't want to actually run. Gonna try ether tonight.
Thanks a bunch! I would have never thought that I had the positive grounded.

 

I meant to say "Old School", not "School"

 

Ahhh, okay. This motor is in my '78 Toyota 2wd pickup. I'm working on making it into a street rod with a narrowed bed and suicide front straight axle. It's not something I expect anyone to understand, but I hope people will step back and say, "neat."
We got the motor running tonight! It's pretty loud with the stock manifold running to a foot of tubing. There's alot more construction to do, but before I continue, I have to fix my seized water pump