Going crazy & broke / HELP

[slugish]

MYSTORY IS THIS
REPLACED MSD BILLET DISTRIBUTER ABOUT 2000 MILES AGO - WAS FRIED BECAUSE NO GROUND STRAP FROM ENGINE TO CHASSIS, AT LEAST THAT IS WHAT i was told the problem possibly was
* some of you may remember my post of my truck on back of tow truck - rotor & cap was replaced on dist. ran ok for a while . engine ran for a few minutes , cut off , started back up ,cut off again. then wouldnt crank at all .
* next ,engine would just go dead going down the road, wait a while ,would crank back up etc.
* took to another garage , they said the msd box was bad. replaced that.
called msd- they said how did they test the box- they said you need msd test unit - not just reg. meters ?
* they said replace coil- so Ireplaced coil & wires.
* went to cruise in . ran ok there but guess what- took me 1 hr before it cranked. went dead after 2 miles . stumbled a few times in the 20 mile trip back home& let out a loud backfire right before Igot home.
* the only thing I didnt replace was the coil wire because the one I got with new wires was too short .

ANY IDEAS OF WHAT TO TRY NEXT WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

[shadetree]

I'd be tempted to stab in a known good "stock" HEI dist and drive around a while. If it works, try to get a refund on the MSD unit. If it still runs bad, you know it is in the vehicle, and not the distributor.

[Billla]