All of the 99s that I have have little to no wick left. I did find on the TFSR website a way to cut a new one so it would function the same as original, but didn't have that felt available and put it off. I will do as you suggested and they should be happier.
A neighbor who works at an auto place said to use the wick from a lantern as well, and gave me a "small" (about 6" long, a lifetime supply) wick to work with on Friday, but I wasn't sure if it would be OK. Since you're the 3rd person to say it would work, I may try that first. Otherwise, I have about a yard of red felt here, I should be able to make something that works out of that.