67 with front drum brakes. I'm replacing the bearings and seals. I thought it was strange the the old seals came right out. I thought they were a pressed fit into the drum?

The new ones are the same, not a pressed in fit. This correct?

they don't have to be pressed in, they really have no place to go when the drum is installed.

Always used a hammer to remove (claw end) and a 2X4/hammer to re-install. Never had any issues.

Thanks guys, but sounds like conflicting responses.

Are 67 drum seals a loose fit seal or do they press into the drum? Anyone else with first hand knowledge?

They should fit tight (snug). You should have to tap the seal in with a hammer.

I've never seen a seal just fit loose in the hub.

My thoughts exactly. I've never seen one fit with out needing to be tapped a bit. I'm wondering if there wasn't 2 different drum sizes with different seals.

Back to NAPA I'll go.

Someone might have put different drums on but all the drums that should be compatible should had the same size seal.

Wonder if the drum got rimmed out or something from a bad bearing sometime in it 46 + years to not make it fit snug. Maybe the hub got loose at some time and caused the back bearing to ride in that area to cause it to enlarge the area.

Could be. I started with the passenger side. I need to pull the driver side and see if it's the same.

Like Harold said. They fit snug. Not hard to pull out, but they shouldn't fall out. I wouldn't be surprised if someone used the wrong seal.

Mystery solved... Went back to NAPA with the drum. Somewhere over the last 46 years the drums got changed to 68 or later. The seals are different from 67 to 68. Bearings are the same.

So someone replaced the drums at some point and either used 67 seals or the seals were replaced again at a later date and they never bothered to solve the mystery as I just did. I still need to take a look at the drivers front. But I have a set of seals for 67 and 68 now.

makes sense

Didn't the 67's have a hub with the bearings in it and the drums slid over it?

all early drum brakes i've seen on the GM cars had swaged (swed-ged) drums. the drum and hub assy were one unit and you used to be able to get replacements that way as well.