Originally Posted by
SirMike1983
The AW hub is one of the ones that, in the rare event something does break, I'm pretty confident I can replace the part with a good one. There aren't too many other vintage hubs I can say that for. Perhaps the New Departure Model D, but AW parts are still common as dirt. Hopefully that will never change.
(the notable exception is if you need a shell with a specific number of drillings that aren't 32 or 40)
this is true. and, needing a new shell is less common than needing an internal part like a clutch or pawls. i've picked up NOS 36H hubs for next to nothing, and used them to swap the internals on 40H hubs.
there are a couple of different AW clutch and sleeve variations out there, and i'm not sure how they correspond to specific years and whether they are 100% interchangeable.