[Vwdiesel] Tranny question

[Fudny at aol.com]

I have pulled the flanges off my spare tranny that after replaceing the flange seals made a clicking noise. I have the following parts:
 
Dust cap
Spring clip
Spring washer
Drive flange
big spring
A brass conicle shaped spacer?

I pulled the flange off of another spare and found a cup type washer/spacer between the big spring and the brass spacer.
When I try to install this cup spacer/washer I can't seem to compress it enough to fit the retaining clip into it's groove.
Is this normal and I just need to compress it further or are the cup type washer/spacer not needed? It just seems like it is about the thickness of this cup spacer/washer that I am missing it by. It is just a sheetmetal material preeses piece.

TIA - Terry

85 - Jetta diesel