Bearing races on Hardy Spicer joints

[Erich]

I have hardy spicer joints front and rear on my SWB Ulster Rep. The rear one had a couple of stiff spots so I ordered a new kit of races and spider from one of the cherished suppliers. With the Woodrow book, I thought the races would come out easily. Wow, was I wrong. After a couple of hours of fiddling and whacking with a brass drift, I got everything apart. The races were not rusty and I could see no reason why they were so tight in the yokes. One of the races had obvious wear spots from three or four needles. My question  is how tight should the outer races be in the yokes. Firm, so they don't spin, but it seems as if the yokes were machined out too tight. My other question is if the holes in the yokes are too tight, could that distort the outer races?

Erich in hot smoky Seattle.