What is this wire? It looks to be a little grounding wire but it is just loose. Is it needed?

I burned the condensor so I had to pull the distributer out to get to it.

I am also putting in a pertox pointless system in.

Suggestions?

Thanks,
David

Whoa!!!

I wouldnt use that distributor!! Where did you find that? In bottom of lake???

The rust on the cam lobes are sooo bad....

ohhh, you're gonna put Pertronix in...ummm, you've got a lot of cleaning to do!

That wire is for connecting to your points.....take it out and follow the Pertronix instruction....I'm stilllll waiting for mine in the mail.....damn!

j

That wire is a grounding wire for the points. Power comes in through the condenser/coil, through the points, through the advance plate, through that wire, through the distributor body, and finally to the engine case. If you're putting in a pertronix, that distributor will work fine as long as you take out the advance plates and make sure it pivots freely and that the centrifugal weights move freely as well.

Check the vacuum advance by sucking on it and then putting your tongue over the port to hold the vacuum. Watch the advance plate inside the distributor, if it slowly turns back to rest then your canister is bad. If it's still good you should hear the advance plate click back to rest when you take your tongue off the port. If you have a hand vacuum pump you can use that instead and watch the gauge.

No this wire. What is this one...

And yes I will take a tooth brush to the rust areas. Gotta love Georgia humidity.

Yes, that's the wire we are talking about. It's supposed to be soldered to the distributor body. You don't need it if you have a Pertronix.

Ohhh....that wire....the ground one

yes, Mark is right...no need for Perkronix...

j

What year? Before you use that dizzy, I'll see if I have one and send it to you. In all probability, the advance mechanism is siezed up.

Slits, you are just a nice guy.
L. McC

Damnit - you're blowing my online image

Thanks

you guys sure you don't need that ground wire? It provides the ground connection for the points. Why wouldn't the Pertronix need a ground as well?

The Pertronix doesn't ground though the plate; it's just a Hall Effect switch.

You just connect the two leads (Red +, Black -) to the coil accordingly and you're done.

As far as I understand it, it still should require a ground. The (-) terminal on the coil does not provide a ground. The points (or in this case the pertronix) is what provides the ground for the coil. So it still seems to me that the pertronix needs to ground itself through the breaker plate.

Demick

Just checked the pertronix web site in the troubleshooting area. One of the reasons that they give for the pertronix not working:

The ground wire inside the distributor is not connected.

Oh yeah. Duh. Lesson learned.

I love it...
It pays to be sure your right. Not everyone is like me and ALWAYS Right..