What about the distance from where the c-clip would be, to the face of the part that engages the axle (the piece with the teeth that spins)? It is nearly 1/4"! Is it missing a large spacer/shim or something? I pulled these hubs from a recycle yard years ago, and I do not remember a shim ~1/4" thick. The only shims I have from the original vehicle are very thin. ~1/4" is a huge amount of play! I have the shop manual for my 1988 and it shows this gap at 0 - 0.01".

Another question - One of the reasons that I gave him the Aisin hubs was because I thought they were supposed to work on axles with splines that have been ground off by the auto hubs. I thought they engage so much deeper on the axle that this negated the damage. Is this not correct? Am I missing something? He is bringing it up tomorrow and I will finally be able to see things first hand.