T18 Retainer

[eightOsix]

The bearing retainer on the front of my t18 broke off, causing loss of clutch. After searching all over and not finding a replacement I took the retainer to a local machinist who had to machine off some of the retainer and the seal surface in order to get the snout back on straight. He also took off a bit of the snout and the snout mounting area.
When I went to see if it fit, there was about a 1/8 inch gap between the case and the retainer when the bolts started to get tight. The shaft also locked up. Looked like the retainer was hitting the bearing.
So I built three 1/16"gaskets which will apparently solve the problem. When I do the final install I will layer some rtv between each layer.
Can anybody think of any issues I May have with this set up?

 

[ihpartsjeff]

Is the retainer still centering nice over the front bearing or is it now centering off of the bolts?

 

[eightOsix]

When I put the three gaskets in and snug up the bolts the shaft appears centered and rotation by hand is easy.

 

[eightOsix]

I was more concerned about not having enough clearance for the throwout assembly. I put it all together and calculated the position of the assembly on the retainer relative to the bellhousing flange when the assembly is 3/16" out from the clutch fingers. There is close to 1/2" clearance between the sleeve and the retainer, and about 3/4" of throw out front.
So I think I'm good to go.