I know the turbo engine better than the NA, but on the Turbo the distrubutor (except on 81 cars) is the full monte when it comes to telling the computer when to fire injectors and ignition. My understanding is the NA diz is a magnetic trigger instead of optical? I know the ign module is built onto the side of the housing.
Anywho, I found out that my injectors and my coil module were dead. I unhooked the fuel pump (you can do this via relay), and turned the diz over by hand to listen to each injector firing, only 2 made any noise at all. I pinned out the entire computer all the way back to the key several times (about 8), all trying to find this mystery problem. I got a signal from the diz, and to the ign module but the module never fired, tested coil resistance as well. So anyhow, grab a book if you dont have one and test test test, otherwise all these guesses can be expensive