Yeah...back on track.
I removed the lower cover and looked closely at the end of tank. Using a 5x magnifier, while there IS marks on the bottle surface, I cannot feel them with a little finger, fingernail going across them. Took a grinder and "clearanced" the cover to about two pieces of paper (about .008+"). If the bottle is out of round, and the current gap is...on the low side, I may still have interference problems. But I see no time when I'd remove the bottle. And if I do, hopefully I'll at least remember to loosen the lower cover ! In any case, I have no imposed loads from the cover to the tank.
On the other hand...Someone DID...insert the wrong thread screw into the grip..! It was loose from the first time I picked it up. Didn't do anything about it. Not knowing that you don't have to remove the grip to remove the cover...I removed the grip. The freaking screw is STRIPPED. Looks like the wrong screw threads. The insert in the cover looks fine, so no harm done to the hard parts.
Looks like the FX Quality Control department is in dire need of some new personnel.
Mike