I just went out and played around with the ignition for several hours. I am now convinced that it is at least firing the plugs on all cylinders. I looked at the dist shaft when i changed the pickup coil and it was true and smooth. no noticable play when installed. I had checked the egr tube and it is holding vacuum when I plug one and I replaced the gaskets on it and the egr valve.
the good news is that i figured out what the real problem is... I used a 24" piece of 5/16" dowel to "listen" to the injectors on the rear bank. and was able to hear number 5 ticking away while numbers 1 and 3 were silent. I am going to pick up a noid light to verify pulse at the injector plug. I am pretty sure that there will be a pulse because when I sent the injectors in to be overhauled I checked the continuity of the injector wiring harness and it was good even while moving and bending the harness around.
if there is a pulse at the injector, I am wondering if I could "jumpstart" the thing if it is in slight bind. I don't know how much it would take to do that. I'll report back... thanks for the suggestions