Need Help!! Smoking Ignition Switch

I bought the entire ignition switch, bezel and switch cylinder from MAC's Auto parts about 6 months ago. The van has been runnign and starting great. The other day I took a 10 mile round trip around town. As I pulled into my driveway, the wires attached to the ignition began to smoke and burn. I immediately turned off the ignition and the wires stopped burning. I let it sit for a few minutes and attempted to start the van again. The wires began to smoke and burn again!! I turned off the ignition and disconnected the battery to play it safe.
Could it be that the ignition is faulty and need a new one? If so, do I only need the igintion switch part or do I also need a new ignition switch cylinder with keys?

Donivan,
Looks like you were right. One of the ignition wires was touching the dashboard mounting bracket and was shorting out. I bought a new ignition and cylinder just to play it safe. I am also going to rewire the entire van so that I don't have anymore suprises.
Thanks for your help!

donivan65 wrote:,,,and I am surprised that the 40 year old wiring has not burned up the truck,,,,,YET.
But what everybody needs is to install Fusible Links on their Positive Battery Cable feeds to protect the wiring from going up in smoke when something shorts out. And a Fusible link needs to be 4 gauges larger than the wire it protects,,,,,(a 12 gauge wire needs a 16 gauge Fusible Link) The fusible link melts if excessive current flows through it BEFORE the smoke begins.

I thought the smaller the number the larger the wire So by what your saying 4 gauges larger than what it protect wouldn't that mean a 16 gauge wire would need a 12 gauge fusible link? Or is the fusible link a smaller wire than what is protects... Just a little confused by the wording here...

Well I got my van back from being re-wired and now it runs terrible. It sputters and feels under powered when you drive it. But once it has warmed up for about 15-20 minutes, it seems to run better.
I changed the points and condensor thinking this may be the problem from the ignition short/fire that I had. But it still seems to be doing the same thing.
Before the ignition problem, the van was running great.
Any ideas on what could be causing this, maybe the coil?

Donivan,
The rewiring consisted of the ignition, new fuse panel and wired all the lights and added back up lights. They did not touch any of the wiring on the engine. That is why I thought that the short circuited ignition might have fried the points and condensor. The van was running fine until the igintion short.

Donivan,
I went to AutoZone and bought a new coil. I replace the old coil and now the van runs great like it used to before the ignition short!
So I guess new points, condensor and coil was the trick.