Well, not really. It's likely that the block is taking the thrust in one direction and the cap is taking it in the other direction, and the cap and block surfaces are a bit offset from each other, as you noted. I can't recall the max thrust movement but IIRC it is not nearly .018". So some of the thrust movement is going to disappear with the cap in place anyway. I'll guess that the studs versus the mains bolts (with the reduced diameter bolt shanks) are reducing it by several thousandths....refer to post #2