If all the proper looms and the small plastic holders on the cam cover are not in place, the wires can short to each other or to the engine.

If you see a funny washer under a couple of cam cover bolts, they should contain plastic clips to hold plug wires.

The wires in their proper placement should not go nearer than 1/2 inch from other wires or metal parts.

I purchased a 740 that had a piece of a plug wire about the size of a pea was completely burned away, the wire had a hole in it, but the car ran pretty well.

Check to see if the coil wire goes through a plastic clip on the firewall - one of our cars had a wire cut by the clip