I had problems with my 85 2.8 S-10 starting cold.
It was the coil. It would get real dirty from time to time, from being run on a rural mail route with miles of dirt roads. When this hapeened it would short out and spark to ground through the dirt. I would clean it off with some soap and water or gas in a pinch. Than thouroly dry it off and I would coat it with polyurethane. Than it was good to go for another year or so.
Don't know if this helps or not.
