I agreed to bring a 251 back to life. The motor runs fine but the wheels were shot so I ordered new wheels and am now trying to get it back together. The wheels I purchased are MEW and look pretty good. I removed the old gears, mounted them to the new wheels put the old axles back on the geared wheels. The inside flange of the wheel rides on the end of the idler gear shaft. There is still a little space between the hub of the wheel and the frame of the motor. Do I need to add some spacers between the motor frame and the wheel hub so that there is clearance between the inside flange and the end of the idler gear shaft? If so how much clearance should I have? I looked at the old Lionel wheels and it appears the hub is the same size as the new MEW wheels. I tried looking at some old pre-war electrics I have but the wheels are so swelled up that I can't be sure of anything.
On a related note, the MEW non-geared wheels have been machined flush so they have no hub at all, unlike the original wheels. I assume I'll have to add some spacers there or there will be too much side to side "slop". True?
Finally, when I am gauging the wheels what should the gauge be and where should I meaasure it? The old wheels were so warped I'm afraid the measurements I took (back to back between inside flanges and outside to outside over the "tires") may not be right.
I'm sure I'll have more questions but so far so good.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Don