Snell Type A

I found a place that will re-foam the woofers.  Two more questions. 1: How do I know if the spider needs to be replaced. It looks ok.  and 2: what is the soft white gasket material (like plumbers putty) that is between the metal speaker frame and where it screws to the wood cabinet?  Thanks much.  

2: 

You would probably something like this today:
https://www.parts-express.com/parts-express-speaker-gasketing-tape-1-8-x-3-8-x-50-ft-roll--260-540

Boys, you can't just swap speaker drivers will nilly just because they may fit. Well, actually you can, but the speakers won't sound the same or as the designer intended. The xovers were designed for a specific dynamic woofer driver. Substituting a different unit will almost certainly work (in the broadest sense of the word) but it won't be optimal. Unless you are talking about vintage Tannoy or Altec drivers, exact replacements are usually not expensive, especially used. And substituting non-original parts is going to make your restored speakers hard to sell and/or lower the value for resale.

Agreed.  I plan on having the woofers re foamed at an electronics shop in New Orleans.  I’m hoping the can also replace the grill cloth on the top part.  

If the speakers need new spiders I will end up purchasing some new woofers from the folks who handle Snell Acoustics parts.  Trying to keep the expense down but keep original parts.