I just finished removing a badly rusted screen ring from the distributor 
cap. All along I had thought it was an integral part of the distributor. 
Absolutely not.  
 
The short piece of ground strap was pretty much disintegrated as well. 
What I'm interested in knowing is whether it is possible to dispense with 
this part and just hook up a ground strap somewhere else ? What, if any, 
other function does it serve? Thanks for all the advice. 
  
  Phil 
   '89 Westy