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OK...Im back in California and back at it on my dads Packard!!!

We got the Autolite distributor rebuilt. It is the unit that has the vacuum advance move the whole body of the distributor.

It came with a small external wire that has two eyelte ends on the wire. I do not remember where this wire goes.

The coil has two post (+) and (-)...strange that the service manual schematic does not specify the positive or negative of the coil.

The "17Y" wire from the ignition switch goes to the (+) side of the coil...

There is a very short lead that goes from the (-) post of the coil to the side of the distributor and that powers the capacitor of the coil and the points.

The overdrive has a wire and I believe this wire goes to the (-) side of the coil so that the ignition system is grounded and does not produce spark for the quick instance that the overdrive solenoid is moved to engage the overdrive.

OK...since the entire body of the distributor moves with the vacuum advance, the distributor body will need some kind of wire to electrically connect it to the block. I think that this is the small external wire that came back with the distributor...I presume one eyelet is connected to the vacuum advance pot mounting bracket but where is the other side supposed to go?

Thanks for the help!!!

Figured it out!!!

The small wire with the two eyelets is the bonding wire from the vacuum pot bracket to the distributor body...

The metal mount of the vacuum pot bracket is bolted to the engine block and since the distributor body moves back and forth it is on a bearing and that would not be a reliable path to ground so it looks like this little wire is the path.

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