I finally replace my original rear wheel on my 1973-4 Schwinn Continental because of a bent axle with one off Amazon (WheelMaster Wheel Rear 27 x 1-1/4 Silver, Bolt On, 5/6/7sp FW Hub, 14g UCP Spokes, 36H). I had a bike shop remove the freewheel/spoke protector since I didn't have the tool to do that. The freewheel moved over ok and tightened up when I started riding the bike. Now though the freewheel does not spin backwards freely. It looks like when it tightened up, the first gear is now too snug against the spoke protector so that it cannot freely move without binding. If I take the wheel off, with some effort I can move the freewheel backwards.

Question: is there a spacer of some sort between the freewheel gear and the spoke protector that the shop may have lost when they took off the freewheel? That's the only think I can think of?