Felt for rear wheels seals (1936 Special)

[groselle]

I'm looking for a source for rear wheel seals for my 36 Special. They are essentially a 3/8" thick felt donut that fits into a metal cup. I've looked at Bob's Automobilia and Kanter and neither carry them. Can you buy bulk felt anywhere? Seems like they should be relatively easy to fabricate with the right felt. Thanks.

[1937-44]

Hi,
I had a similar problem on another car. After a long search of old car parts vendors and talking to numerous bearing houses I gave up trying to find seals and did what you are thinking of doing. Searching fabric and craft shops turned into a big waste of time. I finally went to my local Walmart purchased the largest pair of felt boot liners I could and took them apart. The bottoms are about 1/4 inch thick and the sides are 3/8 inch. Be careful separating your seal canister and you should be back on the road in no time. Good luck.

[imported_Charles2]

The seal kits available for the Model A Ford torque ball seal kit contain two strips of dense felt about 3/8" by perhaps 7/16" and about 6" long. The kits are not very expensive and are available from Brattons, Mac's or Snyders. All of them have web sites; check for them on Google. One of these kits may be what you are looking for. Let us know.

[ZondaC12]

what are these "felt rear wheel seals"? on my 1938 special ill soon be working on will this be something I will likely need also?

[groselle]

ZondaC12, the felt seals go on the end of the axle tube where the shaft comes out. They surround the axle shaft and prevent the bearing grease and differential oil from getting into the brake drums. That's how i knew they were bad. There was oil and grease all over inside the drums. Not good for stopping. I don't think you will have a problem since both Bob's automobilia and Kanter carry the seal from 1937 on.

Here are couple of pictures of the seal

This is the complete assembly.


And here it is disassembled. The felt "donut" is at the top left. Should be easy to recreate if I can find the right kind of felt.

[ZondaC12]

cool thanks for the info! thats terrible, that youre off by one year! otherwise youd be able to just uy one of those seals. good luck with that, i hope you find the felt you need so you can make that seal

[groselle]

Just an update. I was able to find the correct felt at McMaster-Carr. They've got high density felt in thicknesses up to 1/2" and in sizes ranging from 4" discs to 30" sheets. I ordered it on Sunday night and it showed up today. Now I just have to figure out how to cut it nicely.

[ZondaC12]

cool! ill take a stab at cutting out discs. maybe if you could file the edge of a thin piece of sheet metal so its real sharp, then bend it into a circle you could maybe make yourself a cookie cutter sort of thing and turn it back and forth pushing it down on the felt, and cut them out.

well whatever you end up doing i hope it works well!