New Guy: Upgrade Parts Or Entire Lathe?

I was going to adjust the preload but when I took the nuts, gear, and spacer off I noticed lateral play in the spindle. It looks like this is just play that is inherently there because of the design of tapered bearings. This play goes away when the spacers and everything are installed, and before my drive belt tore I had the dial indicator setup and I was getting maybe .0005 of deflection on the outer surface and inner bore of the spindle. This sounds ok to me!? The only issue I noticed is that the spindle gear is not fully engaged so I think I need to trim a few thousandths off the spacer so the gear will align correctly. This should help with preload as well because then I won't have to crank so hard to get the gear to align. Sound about right?
 
Are you sure about the white lithium grease for the bearings?
 
No I am not. It is what Frank Hoose recommends on his website and you tube channel about the mini lathe/ mill. Its what I had on hand, but I am sure that at some point I will break it all down again and apply something else. Any recommendations?
 
I asked because the white lithium grease I have is a general purpose, good for many things grease that might not be best for your specific application. My lathe spindle bearings run in ISO 32 oil so it doesn't compare. However I have experienced heat generation in bearings from using the wrong grease in the past. New bearings should not overheat unless preload is too high, they are binding or the wrong grease is used. It is normal for bearing housings to get warm to the touch, even when set right, but not too hot to touch, to smell or smoke. My reflex would be to follow the manufacturer's recommendation but I know nothing about your particular lathe.
 
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