there is a metal shroud that goes around the distributor; it has a
soldered-on ground strap that connects to this little
quick-disconnect.  i think this metal piece is intended primarily to
reduce radiated radio frequency emissions from the distributor and
does not affect it's performance otherwise.  i just swapped engines in
my 2.1L '86 and the old engine (that i put almost 100k miles on) did
not have this piece.  the only difference i noticed now that i'm
running with it is a slight decrease in engine noise picked up by the
channels in my audio amplifier that have the gain cranked way up.

Ben.

On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 3:36 PM, Stephen Cebula <sfcebula@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I'm in the process of doing my first engine swap.� No conversion, I'm just changing my bad 1.9L for a good one.� I'm now hooking up the new motor.� I was really careful to mark all of my disconnects and took pictures as well so I wouldn't forget anything.� Evidently I missed one.
>
> On the right side of my distributor there's a small electrical clip.� I can't remember what goes there.� Is it a ground strap?
>
>
>
>
>