Sorry bout that --- you learn something every day. Sorry it was at the expense of your time.

Pretty funny, though--lots of troubleshooting all over the net to do just that (swap coil positions). The threads never had any resolutions though -- should have been a red flag

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Moving individual coils around is an accepted diagnostic practice. We have the Ford factory diagnostic software at work but we did not purchase the "vmm" from ford. It is the adaptor to test various components including coils. We stock a variety of new coils that fit our fleet and use them in our diagnostic routine.
In the days of oil cooled coils they were very reliable. Coils were replaced but they were seldom the cause, usually the condenser had failed.
It seems that spark plugs cause most of the random misfires these days.
Cars used to get tuned up every 12,000 miles, plugs, points and a condenser. Wires seemed to last until they came out with H.E.I. Ignition. Of course they extended the plug gap and lengthened the replacement interval.

What I meant was that there are many threads out there for this exact engine where advice was given to swap the coils as step 1 in troubleshooting. But those threads never had any conclusions or posted solutions....

i guess I just proved my own (obvious) adage:

"There's a whole lot of information on the internet -- some of which is true."