When I mentioned that I have a spacer under the top cap it is because I haven't decided how long I want the steer tube to be exactly since I'm waiting for my new Control Tech Unit stem to arrive and I don't want to cut the steer tube too short. So I left it a bit long and put a spacer under the top cap, this is not the spacer I'm asking about.

The spacer I'm concerned about is the one that is now under the upper cover, or adjusting race, that is preventing that upper cover from binding on the headtube.

The thing that concerns me about this is that the upper cover normally prevents you from over tightening the top cap. In that case it would bind to the headtube.

In my case, the upper cover is binding to the headtube prematurely BEFORE the bearings are properly loaded. When the bearings are properly loaded and the play is gone from the fork, the upper cover is tight against the headtube and cannot rotate freely.