[invisibomb]

Your tIming is off now, or your harNess is shorting/ deteriorated. 

Merkurs are known for terrible wiring, it will literally  crumble in your hands

UPDATE: I found the issue. I took a look over all of the wiring under the hood and noticed in the battery area there is a ground wire that had a spade connector on it that was connected to what looks like the regular factory disconnect. I'm pretty sure this is the work of the previous owner. The factory side was badly corroded and so i replaced both connectors and the ECU now powers up. Now i smell fuel but it still isnt firing which leads me to believe the mark on the balancer isnt accurate. So tonight i plan on manually finding top dead center and timing from there.
One thing i did notice is that the timing didnt seem to change when i would connect the SPOUT. Is that normal?

[TurboRay]

Now I smell fuel but it still isnt firing which leads me to believe the mark on the balancer isnt accurate. So tonight I plan on manually finding top dead center and timing from there.there.

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Unless equipped with an aftermarket “balancer” ~ you don’t have one, Jim/Bob/Sue/Greg.....only a crank pulley. The little “V-notch” on that pulley was put there by Ford and it’s highly unlikely to be more than 1-2 degrees off and therefore wouldn’t be the source of your no-start prob. The only thing that would throw that mark off significantly would be a missing or damaged crank key, which also indexes the t/belt sprocket. Soooo.....that ALSO would be highly unlikely.

ASSuming you have spark, 40-ish psi fuel-rail pressure AND the injectors are “clicking”....I suggest rechecking your cam timing, with either an “E-bar” or the “string method”. If using the latter, make sure the cam sprocket is “flopped” correctly, wherein the cast-in timing mark (that’s even with a tooth and is 2-teeth CCW from the keyway when viewed from the front) is facing forward.