Height of VPI Stainless HW-19 LP Clamp?

I just measured mine, and it is 1 19/32 inches tall, to the nearest 1/32 inch. (It might have been just a hair taller, but my measuring tape only goes down to 32nds.) Given that it is clearly an assembly of at least two pieces, I would conjecture that its design height might have been 1 5/8 inches with some variation in production samples allowed.

By the way, I believe this is indeed the item you asked about. I also own the earlier VPI spindle clamp made up of two pieces of black delrin plastic, as well as the early version of the VPI HRX all metal clamp. I also have the HRX version of this clamp, where the stainless top and delrin base are bonded together. This last looks very similar to the piece you asked about, but I measured its height to be 1 17/32 inches.

I just measured my all black delrin two piece "One Piece" clamp, and the height is 1 13/32 inches. I stood it side-by-side with the stainless + delrin clamp and indeed the all black delrin was shorter, as the measurements would suggest.

This implies that my all black delrin clamp is different from yours. (Have you double checked your measurement with another measuring device? Sorry, I couldn't help asking.) The good news is that if your 1.766 inch tall clamp is just slightly too tall, there should be a good selection of VPI clamps that could fit OK. You could even get a short all black delrin like mine, and it might work out.

My all black delrin came with my VPI HW 19 Mark III, which I bought new in 1997. I vaguely recall that there was a choice of VPI dustcovers, a short and a tall, and I got the short one because the Mark III platter wasn't as thick as the Mark IV platter. I don't know if you are using a VPI dustcover, but perhaps the better solution would be to get a taller dustcover. (Obviously, you might prefer to avoid this expense.) If no one has the right VPI dustcover for this discontinued turntable line, Gingko Audio offers a selection of dustcovers and will do custom work. I've had good experiences with them, but they aren't real cheap either.

OK, so here's my run down from tallest to shortest:

1 11/16 (= 1 22/32) inches -- all stainless HRX clamp, early version.

1 19/32 inches -- stainless knob on delrin disk, able to rotate independently of each other.

1 17/32 inches -- stainless knob on delrin disk, bonded together, hole not threaded, came with very early HRX.

1 13/32 inches -- black delrin knob on delrin disk, able to rotate independently of each other, came with HW 19 Mark III. Mark, you mentioned that you had one of these, and it measured about 1 5/8 inches (= 1 20/32 inches). It would seem that yours is clearly taller than mine.

I measured these by inverting them on a flat surface, ensuring that the discs were parallel to the surface (versus wobbling like a toy top) by using perpendicular bubble levels on the discs' flat bottoms now facing up, then measuring the distance from the surface to the upper edge of the discs using a metal tape measure. I checked to make sure the tape measure didn't "add" a little bit at its end before starting to count the distance at "0."

Assuming you don't go with Dreadhead's suggestion, both getting a taller dustcover or finding a way to use the BDR clamp are possible ways to go. Best would be getting a BDR with the threaded insert where you want it. A question: if you don't screw the BDR down but just place it on the spindle, is it heavy enough to press the record down on the platter to your satisfaction? or is the screw down essential? Good luck.