Help! Plug wires are melting....

We just spotted this last night. It was hard to see because it was on the underneath sides of 2 wires. Apparently, on the 1965 Barracuda 273 engine the heat sheilds at the manifold on the drivers side are so short that they don't do any good at all. The passenger side is OK but that drivers side manifold is swept upward, putting the end of the spark plug wire very close to the manifold. Replacing the wires is no problem but my question is this: Is there a modification that needs to be done to the little heat sheilds? Would a larger set of heat sheilds be worthwhile?

Second question: What color plug wires are stock on the "65 Barracuda? I'm trying to keep the car as original as possible. In the "original car" classes at shows will fancier wires count against the car?

BTW, the car was not firing up right away when it was hot. It fires right up when cold. Since everything else is pretty new (Pertronix ignition & an Optima battery) I'm assuming the burned wires are the problem. It certainly makes sense.