Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1966 Corvette electrical problem, braided hoses, heater hoses

Question
Hi there, I have a 66 vette, driver with a crate 350.  The other day I was driving it, and 15 minutes into my drive the car went dead..radio off everything.  I glided to a spot in a parking lot, opened the hood, didn't see anything obvious, tried to start it and it started.  The radio didn't work but the car ran for 60 seconds, then totally died.  No power.  I checked the coil wire, distributor wires (but have yet to remove the cap), battery cables, removing them from the battery and cleaning them and even removed the ground from the block and cleaned the contact.  Nothing.  As I was moving my braided heater hoses, one touched the positive post and sparked like crazy!  I had no idea that the braided hoses that close to the battery could be such a hazard.  Anyhow, can you even begin to think what might be wrong?  I also checked the fuse panel and all are fine. While I await any of your advice, I am going to go back out and check the distributor.
Thanks,
Victor


Answer
Victor, first I am not a fan of braided hoses under the hood of the car as they are conductive and just one more source of fire in case of accident or collision. Now to the electrical problem. The first question is this, when the engine dies do you still have headlights? If you do then I would be concerned with the big red wire that runs to the back of the ignition switch (the main feed), the molded connector on the back of the ignition switch, and the switch itself. The reason for looking there is that the radio dies as well indicating that the ignition system is shutting down well before getting to the distributor. If the radio stayed on and the dash gages were alive then the problem could be in the distributor. I believe that the red wire that feeds the ignition system and the ignition controlled accesories like the radio, wipers, heater/AC, etc comes from the battery terminal of the solenoid or a pig tail from the posative battery terminal. Make sure these connections are tight and clean.
Brad