On closer inspection, I found that the cap had a significant curve to it. A couple of judicious taps with a padded hammer took care of that. I then flattened the underside of the cap on a diamond hone. Once it was flat, I raised the rear edge a few degrees and ground a slight bevel to match the angle of the cap when installed on the shave. Before reassembly, the blade bed was leveled and smoothed with a file and the mouth edge deburred. Once it was reassembled, I checked for gaps between the cap and blade and discovered that the cap screw must be very tight in order to eliminate the gap completely. A trial run on a scrap of cedar produced clean, smooth .005" shavings with no clogging. YES!!!

Thanks to all who helped me tune this puppy.