Originally Posted by
harrier6
I'll give that a shot. It seems unintuitive that removing a shim would reduce play,
The cone tightens against the shim, removing the shim allows the cone to be tightened further.
Originally Posted by
harrier6
but I'm no professional mechanic
I was, this isn't something I'd do for a paying customer but did for myself, although the freewheels I used were very high quality and worth the effort. But with yours as you say, it's worth having a go. You might find it works better than it did from the factory - that's certainly been my experience with cheap pedals.