318 LA Engine Hot=Noise Dist.

What DTK is telling you to do is, start the car at night with out any lights around. If wires, distributor cap, etc. are bad sometimes you can see flashes of spark coming from wires, cap, to the nearest ground, which is usually the engine block. This happens alot around the plug connections and where sparkplug wires are close to metal. If you see sparks then you should install new wires and cap, whichever is sparking. Better to change both.
After checking this, shut engine off, remove distributor cap and see if the rotor can move side to side. If it has movement then your shaft or bushing is worn and needs replacement. While distributor cap is off, look inside of it for arching(sparking). Signs of arching inside of the distributor cap are cloudy, smoky and burnt looking areas inside the cap near the plug terminals on inside of cap. Also carefully check cap for any cracks that it may have. If there are cracks it should be replaced. Mike