Steering Gear Question

Working on my old Ocelot MkIII. I have never had a formula car or sports racer before so most of the specialty parts and systems are new to me. The steering rack has no marks on it indicating the manufacturer. The moving end of the rack has a U shaped bracket that holds the rod end. The 1/2" rod end can float around in the bracket as the rod end ball is about .625 thick and the bracket U is about .750 wide. When turning the wheel steering wise the ball moves a bit on the bolt which gives some slop in the steering. The .750 width is not enough for a high misalignment rod end. It seems to me that I should have spacer washers on the bolt to take out all the play possible. Are my thoughts correct? The new bolt will be an AN-8 with the proper grip length.

Thanks in advance

Yup, shim it with some AN washers.