Fuehr & Stemmer

[Jerry Hunt]

I'm in the process of doing some repairs to a Fuehr & Stemmer upright
that accroding to Pierce was made in 1911. It has apparently been
rebuilt somewhere along the way and is structurally in very good
condition. However, as soon as I opened the piano and saw that every one
of the bridle straps was separated, it was obvious that this piano had
been home to rodents at some time (the piano had been in the owner's
dad's "shed" for a couple of years).
My first question is, is anyone familiar with this piano, and if so,
what's your overall opinion of the quality of this brand (which despite
the German name was made in Chicago).
Measurements are as follows: blow distance average 2 1/8", dip 7/16, let
off is reasonable, but checking is from 1/16 to 1+". Is there any reason
not to set the blow distance to 1 3/4? The hammers are in good enough
shape to not be a factor.
Which brings me to my final question. The main reason that the blow
distance is so far is that the hammer rail rest pads are very compacted.
(I'm talking about the pads where the hammer rest rail sits on the
action brackets.) Neither of my supplier catalogs (Schaff and APSCO)
list these pads. My question is, where can one get replacement pads, or
what do you use as an alternative?

Thanks in advance for your help.