What's causing this?
 

Cylinder 1 contact: ( notice the burnt part next to the metal and the burnt black spot to the right )
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1115872952.jpg

All other contacts:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1115872977.jpg

Was the cap installed properly? I think arcing from the rotor to the contact on the distributor (caused by a small gap) can raise the temperatures near around to VERY hot. There might be some other problem, but that's just my two cents.

So you think maybe the cap is messed up or not installed right, such that there is enough gap to cause an arc? It seems like the cap is either on or not, not much room for faultly installation.

There is certainly some arcing going on, and it is causing the spark to miss when idling. However, I don't notice any missfires when driving. My first thought was that the spark signal was coming too soon ( before the rotor met the contact ).

Any other ideas on what would be causing this or solutions?

Thanks.

I also think the cap was improperly installed. I have run mine for 8 years without the dust shield inside so I can put the cap on with the housing off the engine. That way there is little chance of misalignment. In fact, I owned mine for a couple of years before I discovered it was supposed to have a dust shield.

Others might not agree.

How do you tell when it is perfectly aligned?
I will follow the directions on Clarks Garage and see what I can do.

Thanks for your input. It is greatly appreciated.

There's a groove on the ouside of the cam-cover that the distributor-cap fits into. Then when you tighten the spring-loaded clips, it pretty stays put in one spot only.

Most likely the contact was caused by a loose distributor rotor at some point in the past. There's actually two bolts that holds the rotor on and they're on opposite sides, and a lot of poeople forget about one of them. The rotor wobbles and spins around until it doesn't get within range of one of the posts when the spark goes off and the car dies. But there may have been some contact along the way.

here's a rotor I took out of a customer car once:
http://members.rennlist.com/951_race...otor-Fried.jpg

And the car ran PERFECTLY before and after changing out the rotor too! :)