Modern Vespa

Good afternoon!
I've decided the guy I bought my P125X from did a lot of...not great work to it.

I'm putting the clutch cover back on but it doesn't seat all the way. The little brass plunger seems to be sticking out too far.

Am I correct in that the brass plunger should be almost flush with the top of the hole it's in? Even with just a bare cover the plunger does not go all the way to the bottom of the hole. Pictures I've seen appear to show that mine is sticking up about 1/8" and that's about how much I'm from fully seating the cover.

When I took it apart the plunger was toasted so I've decided that it's not something I'm doing wrong, but something going on with the cover itself.

When I move the clutch arm, I can feel the gap between the little clutch lever in the case and the brass plunger before they engage.

Here's a pic, you can see the bottom of the plunger does not go all the way down. For a piece, and hole, that look round, this part will only go in one way and it does not spin around.

I'm leaning toward needing a new cover.

correct, the plunger should sit almost flush with the lip in the cover.

my assumption is that is a new plunger from a reputable source?

it would be odd for the hole to be somehow compromised, but stranger things have happened. how does the little lever on the end of the arm look?

the cover itself looks a little hammered, but nothing I would be shy to run after some clean up.

If you rotate the plunger 90 degrees does it drop in ?

edit :sorry stupid question.

Cover looks beaten up…