94 ford escort starting problems

i have a ford escort 4 door stock that i'm using in a demolition derby and i'm having a problem getting it to start. it ran fine before i took the stock fuel pump out and put and inline fuel pump in now i have no spark at the engine. it did something similar before i took the fuel pump out (no spark) but it was just the shifter saftey thing that makes it have to be in park to start. all of my fuel lines are hooked up correctly and there is lots of fuel at the engine but no spark. if anyone has any suggestions as to what it could be, your input would be appreciated.

There is a black box to the right rear of the shifter with some wires going into it ( the windows are smashed out of the car) so i was wondering if the box got wet that this may be causing the problem i'm not sure what the function of the box is.