I have a 74 with 2056 dual 40's. I know the carbs are clean and linkage is on point. The car started running a little rough and backfiring and my thoughts were that the points were possibly not gapped correctly. My thoughts were points because last time my car started running poorly with almost the exact same issues, it was bad points.

When I pulled the distributor cap and rotor, I found a piece of pink felt like material in the bottom of the disty. I'm not an expert on points by any means, but I found this unusual. I thought this felt material might have at one time been attached to the points as part of the "brush"....but am kind of clueless. This is an 009 disty and wondered if anybody had seen this before?

I guess my exact question is does anybody know what this pink felt material is? And, does the brush area on this distributor look correct? Also, does anybody have a part number/good vendor for replacement points for this disty? Even if I don't replace these now, i want to have a backup set. Any feedback is appreciated.

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It receives a little oil and drags on the dizzy shaft at the cams. Keeps rust from happening so the points travel smooth. I had something similar happen when I had points. I changed the points and it didn’t help. It was the condenser.

Put the felt back in the v notch on the point..Right lower view of pic. It lubes the rubbing block of the points to the distributor cam.

Give it a little squeeze to keep it tight if needed

how about pertronix electronic points? I used it and works great with no adjustment until it fail.

@shivers @rfinegan Thanks for the help! Due to the indentation on the felt, I thought that's where it probably went, but I can't imagine that it's gonna stay on there if put it back on. It has no adhesion on there and as it rotates around the distributor shaft it will only be held on by the tension of the points.

That said, I have one more question. What's the easiest way to rotate the distributor shaft to get the lobe to line up with the points? I'm guessing rotating the fan.....but if anyone would offer specifics, I'd appreciate it.....in other words, pull the plugs...don't pull the plugs.....in gear/not in gear....clockwise/counterclockwise...etc. I just don't want to "f" anything up.

@ndfrigi I've thought about it or just going to a 123. I think I've had more distributor/points issues than anything as far as when the car starts performing poorly.

To rotate the engine, place trans in 5th gear and jack up one rear wheel/tire. Rotate Forward to turn the engine. It should be pretty EZ todo by hand

Thanks for the help! I love this place!

In 5th, it does not take much rotation of the wheel/tire to move the distributor shaft. If I was doing a quick point replacement I’d just put it in 5th and bump the car forward a bit, usually took a few try’s to get it on top of the cam. Car does not need to move much.

Thanks again....any opinions on Bosch Tiger Stripe points? I think the p/n is 01-030.

I was not looking to change my ignition, when I did. I just got tired of cleaning and resetting the points. I’d have to time it afterwards. A whole production to get the car ready for fun. I read in hot vdubs about these electronic ignitions back in the early 80s and I was converted by the Set it and forget it part of the sales pitch. Once installed I discovered how quick it starts in the morning and how much better it ran. Now they have them that will hide under the cap. Just a thought.