Sparky Ignition

[axllebeer]

Hello I'm new here and also new owner of my first 1981 Fiat Spider 2000. It's drivable but does need a lot of work. My recent issue is this:
Driving the car home on a hot evening, (91ish), the ignition started sparking like fireworks! I pulled over, switched it off, and disconnected the battery then let everything cool down for nearly 2 hrs. My key was attached to many other keys and the rubber on one of the other keys actually melted a bit. The actual "spark time" was around 10 seconds before I pulled over and shut everything down. Keeping in mind that it always starts just fine and 2 hrs later a drove it home (about 6 miles) parked it and disconnected the battery again. This car does have a good amount of strange wiring issues so I'm hoping a bad ground and the other keys rubbing on the metal around the ignition could have something to do with it? Any ideas?

[james124]

Start by disconnecting the battery, look behind the ignition switch. Typically you should find a rubber sleeve covering the switch. Pull that down and look at the wiring and wiring harness behind the switch for unusual issues - burnt wires, plastic, loose wires and the like. Let us know what you find. JamesG