Another snap ring clearance question.

I pulled the front drum out to replace the clutches, when I put all the new stuff in, I have way too much clearance. First off this trans never had wavey snap ring. It just had a regular snap ring in it , it had a 3.8 kickdown lever in it. I was expectin a 2.9 ? Back to the clearance issue, I am baffled at what to do they are about 1/8 inch below the groove in the drum where the snap ring fits ? Maybe not that much but probably hundred thou . I took it apart to see if I had everything in correctly and it was fine, I put all the old stuff back in and it all sits up higher than the new stuff, way less clearance with the old stuff. I soaked the new stuff in trans fluid like it said too. But putting the new discs beside the old ones, the old ones look thicker ? WTF ? I am baffled, did I get the wrong ones ? Need some advice guys .Almost to the point of using the old stuff again. Also in the part that holds the piston in there was only 6 little springs , I was expecting at least 9 . Is this OK . Or should I try to find some more to stick in there ?

Also Guitar, if you read this. I have found a simple way to put the piston back in the drum after installing a new seal or gasket or whatever it is called. Being it is only about 20 degrees here right now I have a small space heater out in my garage where I am working on my trans. After several frustrating minutes trying to put the pison in the drum, I set the drum on my little heater to warm it up. It did not get hot just warm maybe 60-70 degrees, at the same time I set the piston outside in the cold. After about 15-20 minutes I brought them over to my bench and voila ! They slid right togethor no problem . And then I had to take them apart again because I forgot to replace the seal on the inside. So I used the same procedure and it worked well again. So give it a try guitar , I think you will be pleased with the results. Dave Wilson aka fastback383.