I hear ya buddy….The prices of cheap plastic crap helped kill OMC for sure…Try snaking the darn things out of tillers and twist grips also, now that is some real fun….At least the newer ones got away from the stop switch in the end of the twist grip…
Let me review what I think you are telling me…You swapped the coil primaries and the number one/top coil still does not fire?? If so, this would indicate some sort of coil problem…Check the darn primary connection and the secondary/plug lead. Those funky boots/connections get rusted messed up easily…
Coil primary resistance should be about .1 ohms, this can be real tough to read on many ohmmeters.
Secondary resistance should be about 275 ohms, plus/minus 50ohms…
If in doubt, compare your readings with readings on the #2 coil that is firing.
Perhaps the top coil is arcing to ground, this might not show up on an ohm meter test…