Well the M40 is in pieces on the garage floor and being washed/inspected. Everything looks nice except the brass thrust washers at either end of the lay-shaft. Apparently they were tabbed to the case as one has a worn tab and the other has a wiped tab and has obviously been spinning.
The question is, "must I replace these or can I just bend the tab out further and go for it?"
I plan on installing a fully rebuilt M41 in a little while (OK, couple years) once I get time to actually perform the rebuild. The follow-up questions are, "has anyone else experienced this and is is fatal?" and "how long can it go like this?"

Thanks all,

Mike!