Sounds like your distributor cap has had it anyway .
New dist cap and coil wire..
n' yer good to go.
Most people keep a decent used one as a spare anyway, right ?

On 8/11/2012 4:43 PM, Edward Maglott wrote:
> Van started running rough today, at idle mostly.  Got home and took a
> look.  Obvious problem, the wire from the coil to distributor was
> bent off at an angle with burn marks all over the place.  just
> touched it and it came apart.  Now I've got the burnt up end stuck
> down in the center pole of the distributor.  Nothing to grab onto and
> everything is pretty brittle from the heat it has been exposed
> to.  I'm thinking dremel is my next move, but anybody have any better
> ideas?
> Edward
>