Pissed off with motor, want to change

Success! I decided to get by on only 4 hours sleep and work on this baby for a few hours before work today. I put it at #1 TDC and aligned the timing marks to zero. I pulled the dizzy, turned the gear so that the #1 was pointing at the first driver's side intake bolt and reinstalled. I took off my brand new Accel plug wires and installed the cheap $13 set that O'Reilly's had in stock. I reached in and touched her off and it fired immediately and runs smooth with no backfiring. I warmed it up and tried to time it, but damned if I can get the timing mark to show. I ran out of time and timed it by ear. Test drive had low end power and definite lack of mid range power. I need to chalk up the timing mark and try to get it timed properly. Thanks for all the help everyone! I just knew it would be something simple in the end. What I have into it:

Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coil, ignition module, ballast resistor, hours of cussing and swearing, frustrations galore, and high blood pressure.

Sadly, the very first thing I changed was the plug wires.

Thanks everyone! You have all been a great help and gave me lots to think about. I learned quite a bit on this thread. You guys are the best!