I needed two felt seals for the outer grease seals on the Indy car axle. The axle came out of a 1928 GB sedan, as the original Indy cars, because it has a 3.31 or 3.09 ratio. Of course part number 150030 is NLA. Dimensions are 3.062 o.d. x 2.218 i.d. x 7/32 thick, type F1 or F2 felt. So, I ordered up a sheet of 3/8" thick felt to use for these and some other seals. Felt in 7/32 thickness is not available, so cut a strip about 3-1/4" wide, then "skived" the sheet with a kitchen carving knife with an old-school carbon steel blade, sharp as a razor, to get a 7/32" thick strip. Grainger has the F1 felt to use for projects like this.
For cutting dies, I picked up some steel exhaust system adaptors at the local FLAPS. I'll bet they wondered why I was picking up a bunch of parts and pulling my plastic calipers out of my pocket. It turned out that there were some short tubes that could be turned to meet the sizes I needed. My little Harbor Freight 7"x10" lathe groaned, but I did manage to square off the tubes and put a 30 degree tapered knife edge on each one. I placed the felt strip on a piece of plywood supported by a steel block on my HF 12-ton press, put the tube edge to the felt, and added a steel block on the top side of the tube. A few strokes of the hydraulic pump cut through the felt and a little into the plywood. I soon had the two gaskets I needed and some spares. The seals fit nicely into the iron bearing retainers. I'll have to oil them before I button things up.
When I went looking for NOS parts, I found that Studebaker re-used that felt washer size as p/n 665605, used as the front axle grease seals on 2R16, 2R17, 2R28, and 2R38 trucks. In fact, it's still in the 7E/8E catalogs for 7E/8E28 and 7E/8E35 trucks!
The soft steel used in exhaust pipes doesn't lead to a die that lasts a long time, but when you only need two washers, it's OK. I've cut other washers using copper water pipe and aluminum tube for dies.
For cutting dies, I picked up some steel exhaust system adaptors at the local FLAPS. I'll bet they wondered why I was picking up a bunch of parts and pulling my plastic calipers out of my pocket. It turned out that there were some short tubes that could be turned to meet the sizes I needed. My little Harbor Freight 7"x10" lathe groaned, but I did manage to square off the tubes and put a 30 degree tapered knife edge on each one. I placed the felt strip on a piece of plywood supported by a steel block on my HF 12-ton press, put the tube edge to the felt, and added a steel block on the top side of the tube. A few strokes of the hydraulic pump cut through the felt and a little into the plywood. I soon had the two gaskets I needed and some spares. The seals fit nicely into the iron bearing retainers. I'll have to oil them before I button things up.
When I went looking for NOS parts, I found that Studebaker re-used that felt washer size as p/n 665605, used as the front axle grease seals on 2R16, 2R17, 2R28, and 2R38 trucks. In fact, it's still in the 7E/8E catalogs for 7E/8E28 and 7E/8E35 trucks!
The soft steel used in exhaust pipes doesn't lead to a die that lasts a long time, but when you only need two washers, it's OK. I've cut other washers using copper water pipe and aluminum tube for dies.
Comment