Hey PKR,
Glad to hear it's coming together...
Two 8 ohm resistors in parallel won't cool them down - you will just have TWO very hot resitors. Are they the type that can be mounted to a heatsink? If not, just mount them so they don't touch anything and maybe get some air blowing over them.
Most typical Volt-Ohm meters can't read the high current values your TEC will most likely be pulling. I use a FLUKE 36 clamp-on ammeter 0-200 Amps (But $$$)
Good luck,