Upgrade to the later cap such as the Bosch 03-214. The shield is a
conductive plastic. The shield can also be removed and reused at cap
replacement time. This cap uses male posts instead of the hollow barrels for
the wire connections. Most aftermarket wire sets fit both. This shield works
better and does not collect dirt and road salt which can sometimes collect
between the metal shields and wires connections shorting things out when
wet. 

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Richard Koerner
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2012 10:24 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Metal can around distributor cap...do you need it?

Every time I take off the distributor cap on my 1985 1.9 L motor (which I
did last night to replace), it's a big hassle for me to deal with that metal
can with the ground strap which press-fits around the distributor cap,
especially when putting things back on.� Do you need it?� I assume it's some
kind of static-suppression device, but most modern radios have much improved
filtering than their predecessors in the 80's.� Any other function of that
can that I am missing, like interference with any of my engine electronics?�
I took it off, van ran normally, no static on my radio on AM or FM.

(Oh by the way Scott, I did add a few drops of light oil to the felt pad
under the rotor while I was in there, like I always do after you mentioned
that!)

Rich
San Diego