[cosbytnkid]

John if I read your post right I thought I read where you were getting an orange spark at the plugs. If this is so then it is a bad coil. You should have a bluish white spark at the plugs. When I say bad coil read that as a weak coil. A good coil will give you the bluish white spark you need. And yes with that coil it will act as though you turned off the ignition key. Get another coil and see what kind of spark you get then. It should fire up with a replacement. I'm assuming timing is right, have good compression on all 8 cylinders, and is getting gas at the carb. If all is correct that engine has only one option and that is to run. Just my 2 cents worth here. Hope what I've written helps. I know this from experience with a '77 Olds Cutlass I had years ago. Exact same problem, replaced the coil and boom engine fired right up.