Couple of Novice Points Questions Options

[Craigers17]

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.

[Craigers17]

@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.