I'm in the final stages of a transmission rework and have an unused washer/spacer. Can't determine where I have left it out. It is 46mm OD, 34.5mm ID and 4.25mm thick. Its thicker than any of the common flat washers and is a not what the good Doctor refers to as a thrust washer. Pelican's drawing of the Pinion shaft describes the washer between the shims and 5th gear as "Spacer washer". As close as I can tell from the Dr Evil DVD, the washer that he puts in the space looks to be a common flat washer. I did come up short one flat washer and I used one from another transmission I have torn down. I thought I had just lost one on my bench. This could explain this if the thick one described above is actually suppose to be used at the shim point. Help..

You're not going to want to hear this,,,,,
You should tear your transmission apart again and double check the gear stacks, it's a pain, but you really need to have all the thrust washers in place. Take pics this time and me or another of the Doc's darkside deciples will chime in and point out how the gear stack should go together. I think the order is mentioned in the good evil doctor's video.

-Robert

The thrust washers are really easy to follow on the video. The good doctor covers them quite well. Keeping the two very similar ones separate is clear. I don't have trouble comparing the video to my gear stacks. I have a monitor on my work bench. As I say, my concern is the heavy washer that has none of the characteristics of the three thrust washers the Evil One details and describes there place/location. Late nite where I am so pictures tomorrow.

I can measure some of my extras, but based upon those dimensions you list, my first thought is that it is the washer that is between 5th gear and the thin pinion depth shims on the pinion shaft. Even if you suspect it might be from another transmission, I would inspect your gear stack to ensure everything is in the right place.

We recently rebuild a 356 tranny that had been re-assembled (by someone else) without a required thick shim on the pinion stack.
The ring gear and pinion were ruined the first time the owner drove the car. A few thousandths off in pinion depth may make the gearbox noisy. A few hundred thousandths will break the ring gear.

BTW, I love the reference to Megan's portrayal of the good Dr. Evil's words "Man Up" in the opening scene.

She did a great job with that!

As for the answer, I only know as much as was in the video, so we'll wait for the guys with the big brains to chime in.

I did a quick measurement of a spare washer that I mention above. My measurements are close to yours.

OD = 45.5mm +/- (OD surface is roughly finished on this washer)
ID = 35.0mm
Thickness = 4.2mm

I think you have the washer/spacer between 5th gear and the pinion shims. The other spacers are thinner and have a larger OD if I remember correctly.

Ya, it is the thick shim that goes on top of the stack of thin shims on the pinion right before 5th gear. You need to pull the pinion and install this.

Step 1, have a clean bench so as to not lose things. Some measurements are critical and you can not just grab a piece from another box. Luckily these thick shims are all the same.