Mafac Dural Forge: Early versions had slightly different arm shape. Very early ones had oil holes for pivots. Later ones used the same forging as Racer (in fact, they always were called Racer, but not labeled as such until other Mafac centerpulls became available.) Some late ones marked "Dural Forge" had plastic bushings. Only way to tell is pull them apart.
Pads: I use Matthauser canti pads with great success. A friend uses Campy canti pads and likes those. Any canti pad should fit.
Jan Heine, Seattle