Quote:

I'm helping a friend get his 383 started in a '67 Polara. It measures 8V at the coil when cranking. Is that too low to fire the plugs?




Too low...
Assuming the battery is fully charged..
Measured voltage @ the battery should be at least 10.5V-11V. Measured voltage @ the coil should be at least 10V as the ballast resistor is bypassed when cranking, once the engine is running it may drop down to 8V-9V..

Just my $0.02...