Originally Posted by
jonthebiker
Agreed. But for the compression plug to be seated in the right spot ideally the top cap should be flush with the top of the stem. At the moment it can't get there because the whole assembly butts up against the top of the steerer tube that was left a little too long and the top cap can't get flush
Maybe you can post a picture of how it looks now? From your description it's really hard to figure out.
Earlier your said that the top of the compression plug sticks out above the stem 2mm. Now you seem to be suggesting it's below the stem, but not far enough.
If the top cap cannot be screwed down enough to end up flush with the top of the stem, and then screwed down some more (as the cap will draw the whole fork up towards it, this is the point of the top cap, it's not just decoration), your fork steerer needs to be cut some more. If it's long enough that the top of the compression plug lies above the stem, you could get away with sticking extra 5mm spacer above the stem.