Glad to hear you got it running, but your explanation leaves me uncertain as to what actually fixed it.

1) By "thick white wire", I thought you mean the gray wire that connects to coil terminal #1. But you say the wire is, "...near the connector on the module..." The only wires I know of are IN the connector, not "near" it. Might you have cut the white vacuum line connected at the bottom of the module?

2) Because the gray coil wire doesn't "ground the coil to stop the engine when you turn the key off". In essence, it turns the coil on and off to initiate the high-voltage ignition sparks. Cutting that wire would be the same as disconnecting it from the coil. In which case the engine would not run at all.

3) I agree that if the external shielding somehow came in contact with the internal wire, there would be no ignition. But I'm baffled as to how your engine runs with the negative side of the coil no longer connected to the ignition module.

--
Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.