B18FT fuel pump gasket question

[5-Mission]

Hi, I'm reposting this on here as r5gtturbo.com is a little quiet these days and no-one seems to hardly look at, let alone answer posts on there atm!

Does anyone know if the fuel pump on the b18ft has the same sandwich plate as on the F2N? This plate seems to just be there as a spacer and was the source of my oil leak which I have now sorted where I managed to fit the gasket on the wrong side of the plate.
It looked like it needed 2 gaskets - one either side of the sandwich plate to make a proper seal between the pump and the head and now as a result the plunger is fractionally further from the cam lobe it operates on. My question is what would happen if that spacer was removed altogether? Why is it there at all? There would be more travel on the plunger but what would happen? I'm not planning on doing this before anyone asks, just wondered after looking at it the other day.

this is the spacer (probably not a sandwich plate at all!)

 

[5-Mission]

oops, I've just posted this twice as i couldn't see it in new posts. When I clicked 'archive' a list appears and there it is - twice ?! Sorry, I've not used tois site for a long time obviously some changes have occurred!

 

[Neal R19]

Don't worry about it. I only see one anyway.

 

[cvslawrence]

I would be afraid to remove the spacer as it may result in the pump 'bottoming out' and causing rapid wear on the cam lobe and pump pushrod.
If you feel the gaskets are too thick, you could just use rtv sealer on both sides of the spacer.

 

[5-Mission]

Why was the pushrod not designed shorter by the thickness of the spacer in the 1st place?
Would it be correct to say it is virtually at maximum travel with that spacer fitted then?

 

[cvslawrence]

The pump is probably made for more than one application, or an 'off the shelf' pump. No need to re-design one if one exists that can be used by adding a spacer.
And, yes that would be correct.