so I think what im going to do is keep testing this board, and send the last untouched but fully assembled board to
form along with cooling parts so he can get it working himself, he is much more technically inclined than I am with this type of thing, looks like im going to fedex this morning

Are you hashing with any of the chips/engines? You should be able to issue some query commands to the controller even if chips are not on the board or are dead. No? Maybe you did not flash it right. If it is firmware like BFL's, that is how it should work. i.e. the chip map will be empty.
Any idea when form will get your board? I just hope it is just a software issue. If it is a hardware problem, the project will be pretty much kaput as most people will just order from Mr. Teal ($600 without cooling elements) and start hashing before KNC gates open wide.