If it's the wire I think you're talking about, it should be attached to the points plate (assuming you have a vacuum advance distributor).  If it isn't, your points will have a poor ground at best, and without the points being grounded, your ignition won't work.  If you've got electronic ignition it might not matter . . . since I'm a "do it the cheapest way possible" kind of guy, I don't know much about how those electronic ignition modules wire up.  If it's a 009, the points plate doesn't move and is fastened into the distributor body by small screws and doesn't need the ground wire.  If that's the case, I don't know what wire your talking about, so ignore my ramblings . . .

 



Edited By Zen on 1088355613

Zen is correct . You told me .I think, that you have a vacumn dist. The wire is brazed to the point plate. if you look closely , you can see where it was connected. I have seen all kinds of fixes here. Trying to solder, Drilling a hole/tap, running a new wire over to the screw holding the points. If you use a new wire,It needs to be a braided wire so it will flex when the plate moves. Try to fix it if you can. See if you can get someone down there to "spot it' for you. I have seen it done.

JB Weld is great stuff, but it's an epoxy.

Whatever you use for your repair has to do two things.  First, it has to mechanically hold the wire to the plate and stand up the heat an vibration of the engine and the constant movement of the points plate.  JB Weld will probably work for that, BUT . . . will it conduct electricity?  That's the big question and I have no idea.  Remember the purpose of the wire is to give your points a sure path to ground.

I tried the JB Weld on another application hoping it would conduct electricity and it will NOT.