I bought a used distributor with Hall Sensor on Ebay. Got stranded once, and figure if I have one that marginally works it would be better than not being able to get the engine to turn over and get me to where I can get things repaired properly, so I bought it. I took the cap off and looked inside and obviously there is carbon (at least it looks like carbon) but no oil, and the seller assured me that it was working when he removed it from the vehicle, which had gotten hit on the passenger side and totalled. Is cleaning possible (recommended?), and if so what on it should be cleaned and what should it be cleaned with?

Thanks for your replies/recommendations.

P.S. If the weather is good tomorrow I am going to put it on and make sure that it works before I do anything else with it.