the bearing shouldnt be rusted unless you didnt something wrong with it
just use plyers to get the bearing out
they have like 200 thin hat pads here at yye
I just got one. The Hat Pads don’t fit well in mine either. YYE offered to send me a replacemet set. If someone is able to make it a bit larger to facilitate flowable silicone, I’d be interested in exploring that option and then I’ll tell YYE that I don’t need those replacement pads anymore.
Oh, and I like mine! I may send Icthus a PM about doing some work on this item for me.