yeah your right about the shim, the only thing i saw as being problematic was that the clutch shoes will engage further back on the clutch bell, which is weaker? also the inside of the clutch bell has a track worn on it from the clutch shoes(not real worn out but just set in place) and there is a small metal lip on the back of the clutch bell. so if i shim it then the shoes will engage onto the little metal lip, hopefully the clutch shoes will wear the lip down to flat(its only like half a mm thick)but worst case it might wear a groove into the clutch shoes! i will try it, worst case it wrecks the clutch and i will get a new one, and luckily i have a good reliable vendor who is close to home, so i can always buy new parts if i need them, and about the fun, im apprenticing in big rig repair and later on aircraft repair, so i enjoy working on it, i love to sit down every 2 days and clean up and fix the gearbox, last night i enjoyed taking it apart and figuring out how it works, then cleaning it up, and now im looking forward to reassembling it, i have fun riding it to! i take pride in knowing that im what keeps it running, i guess im strange, and i am aware of what i got myself into when i bought the kit, i read all the reviews, and i decided to buy it anyways, i think i made the right choice, because im having alot of fun for a meager 230 bucks, that's one day at the go cart tracks fee!! i got a camera today(yay big spender!) and i will take pictures of the gears and the box and post them, i will post my shimming job too,
PS im getting mad at this website, it keeps disabling the feature that sends me an email when someone posts, and then now i dont know who replied to what!!