I just looked at my E2DL's clip and i actually just noticed the plastic spacer you are talking about. The E1B uses the reversible clip which is different from the E2D so i do not believe it needs that plastic spacer. I actually have an LX2 that has the same reversible clip, it does not have the plastic spacer but it is pretty tight on it with no play at all. I would give surefire a call and ask them about it, they might just send you another clip and hopefully that solves the problem. if not send them the whole light so they can fix it. Im sure they would be happy to help