Ultegra bottom bracket installation problem

I have a new Ultegra bottom bracket (68mm x 118.5) to install and notice
that the cup or screw-in piece that secures the non-drive side is aluminum.
First, when I slide this piece over the axle/bearing assembly as far as it
will go, the remaining space is about 69.7 MM, a bit larger than the 68MM
width of the bottom bracket piece of the frame. There were no spacers
included - should this piece screw in far enough to be tight against the
mounting without using spacers? Second, the aluminum piece does not screw
in very easily - it appears that there is some material in the bottom of the
outermost threads. I wonder if it's some sort of adhesive material, or
perhaps they shipped me a unit that someone had tried to use Loctite on!?
Is it common for this piece to be hard to insert? It's not cross-threaded
as I can back it out and there's no damage to the threads.

Floyd Sense wrote:
I have a new Ultegra bottom bracket (68mm x 118.5) to install and
notice that the cup or screw-in piece that secures the non-drive side
is aluminum. First, when I slide this piece over the axle/bearing
assembly as far as it will go, the remaining space is about 69.7 MM,
a bit larger than the 68MM width of the bottom bracket piece of the
frame. There were no spacers included - should this piece screw in
far enough to be tight against the mounting without using spacers?

Nope. That's correct as it is. Internally, the cups are pressing against
the bearings, so it's fine.

Second, the aluminum piece does not screw in very easily - it appears
that there is some material in the bottom of the outermost threads.
I wonder if it's some sort of adhesive material, or perhaps they
shipped me a unit that someone had tried to use Loctite on!? Is it
common for this piece to be hard to insert? It's not cross-threaded
as I can back it out and there's no damage to the threads.

This is normal also. This helps prevent creaking and prevents the shell and
the bottom bracket cups from fusing together.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training