Two questions ….

On my 73’, Strapped to the coil, there is a “condenser looking” part. I am told it’s possibly a condenser or a noise suppressor……What is it?

Looking at the lobes on the distributor cam, some are rounded, some are squared. Is this worn or normal? If it’s worn, why wouldn’t all the lobes be worn down?

Thanks,
Rick

Not sure, but I believe the condenser attached to the coil is likely for noise supression for the radio.

The lobes on the distributor cam should all look alike. Since it sounds like you're still running points, run a dwell check. If your dwell doesn't change as the car runs and you run the rpm's up and down, I wouldn't worry about it. If the dwell does change, it's time to have the distributor rebuilt or replaced.

Either way, you might consider an electronic ignition. There's a lot of good ones out there. While I've never used one, Pertronix has a very good name, and it fits inside your stock distributor and is probably the least expensive one on the market. If you change the whole distributor, finding one with a tach drive will likely be on the pricey side.

I agree with gunslinger as to the noise supressor. I'll also give a thumbs up to the Pertronix module. I installed one this summer and the difference was quite noticeable. The idle was much smoother and gave a definite boost to overall performance.

Yes, it is a condenser used for radio noise suppression. If it is not shorted, it won't affect the way the car runs, but if it shorts you can have severe problems, or a no start.

Changing to a electronic ignition will help. You could go to a 75 HEI system, but you would have to use a 75 electronic tach as well. (No cable drive) This works very well but its not original and is too much trouble.