I am assuming the engine cranks over but just doesn't start. To begin with, how do you know there is no fuel or spark? Did you try cranking the engine with a long screwdriver in one of the spark plug caps while holding it about 1/8 of an inch from a grounded piece of metal? If so, did you see any spark at all? Ever? The spark will be somewhat faint so it is better to do it in the dark in order to see the spark better. Second, on the fuel rail is a tire valve looking thing under a cap, (called a 'Schrader' valve,) which is used to connect a fuel pressure gauge to. If, after cranking the engine for a couple of seconds, you press on the inner stem and fuel squirts out a little, you are getting fuel. However, the fuel pressure is critical in order for the engine to start; on the order of 63-65 pounds p.s.i. You can also crank the engine for about five seconds, then immediately go to the rear of the car and smell the exhaust pipe. If you smell gasoline, it is getting fuel. If you smell a faint exhaust odor or nothing at all, then there is a fuel problem. Unless the brain is bad, (most likely it isn't,) there isn't much in common between the fuel system and the ignition system. The brain receives signals from the distributor, among other things, and tells the ignition coil when to fire. The brain also tell the fuel pump when to run and that's about as far as the two are connected. The only other commonality between the two would be a wiring harness that carries both circuits. For now, though, if you for sure aren't getting fuel, replace the fuel relay under the hood with a known good one and do the above fuel tests again. If you still aren't getting fuel, you can bet the fuel pump in the fuel tank needs to be replaced. They are about $150 - $200 depending on where you buy them. They are costly because the fuel level sending unit is an integral part of the pump. If you have a high pressure fuel pressure tester, use it or borrow or rent one before you take the tank out. If you are reading less than 50 or 55 p.s.i. when you crank it, replace it. It needs about 65 p.s.i. to start.
If you don't have a fuel problem after all, or if you fix the fuel problem, the next step is to fix the ignition. The distributor has a coil built in to the top of the distributor. If you want to check it yourself, you will need to run a pair of wires from the battery to the coil once you remove it. When you remove it, you will notice one of the four screws that hold it in will have a wire with a little looped connector on the end. That is the negative to the 12 volt side of the coil. It is on that looped wire in order to ground the metal part of the coil, the iron core, when the coil is installed. Both the looped wire and the iron core need to be grounded. Once they are grounded, put the high voltage center pin, (or hole if you removed the plunger and spring, very close to a ground, whether it is another ground wire or a metal piece of the engine. Then, with your positive wire hooked up to the positive wire on the coil, scrape the other end of the wire across the positive side of the battery. You will need someone to help you hold wires or the coil or whatever as you do this. CAUTION: The spark that comes from the center of the coil when you do this is about 60,000 volts. Although it won't kill you, (unless you have a heart condition, then it could,) it will sting if you get shocked! As you scrape the positive wire across the battery, the coil will spark as the positive makes and breaks connection to the battery. If you don't get a spark, replace the coil. If you DO get a spark, replace the rotor since there is probably a micro-fracture or hole in the rotor and the energy from the coil is going through the rotor to the grounded centrifugal timing weights under the rotor. Taping the hole won't help; the spark will burn through the tape immediately. Replace it. After re-assembling it, if you're still not getting a spark when you crank it, check to make sure you have 12 volts to the coil when you turn the key to the crank position. If not, either your ignition switch is faulty or the brain is bad. Run a wire from the positive side of the battery to the positive side of the ignition coil and see if you get spark when you crank it then. If you do, the ignition switch is probably bad because the spark tells you the brain is functioning.
If none of this fixes it, let me know what you did and what the results were and I will help you further.
Good Luck.
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