M5r2 and flywheel help please

Should a new aluminum flywheel look like this? Notice all the scratches along the mounting surface for the pressure plate, some scratches on the friction surface (though they are more like scuffs), and the gouges in the holes for mounting the flywheel to the crank. It looks like someone used a kmart drill press with a chewed up drill bit that's been beat up with a hammer. The measurements for the holes to mount the flywheel to the crank are ~ .455in.
Flywheel pictures

What grease can/should be used to lubricate the clutch release bearing retainer so it slides freely?

Unless I'm delusional (which could be happening at this point) the ford service manual says the oil drain plug should be sealed with Teflon sealant. Can you use the white Teflon tape?

What sealant should be used for the rear two (of ten) top cover bolts? Teflon tape?

Thats Used for sure.
When calling spec you might get a real run around If so ask for David norton I was luck and got talking to him so my clutch got replaced because there was something wrong with it.

The beveled edge on the mounting holes indicate that it has at least been mounted before. The flywheel bolts have a shoulder that digs into the flywheel a hair when it is torqued down and that is what leaves those marks. It "could" have been a test fit and not necessarily been used on another car. I was one of the first people to get that new aluminum flywheel wtih dual clutch bolt patterns and they actually drilled my flywheel bolt holes too small. You may want to check that your flywheel bolts go all the way through the hole. Mine did not and I had to drill each hole bigger. Anyway...it is also possible that they had to redrill that flywheel and maybe test mounted it to make sure it was ok.

The rest of the scratches on the flywheel are no big deal. First thought is that they may use big metal stainless work benches where these flywheels slide back and forth from various workstations when they are drilled or the steel insert is mounted etc....

That steel insert is brand new for sure and overall I don't see anything that looks bad enough to keep from mounting it. I just had mine out after about 5000 miles and it didn't look any better than yours. Slap it on and you'll be pleased with the increased throttle response and increased pull in the longer gears.

Micah

It has been imbalanced for 50oz (for a 302) so maybe the scratches occured at that time? The ring gear looks untouched. Should I lightly hit the flywheel with a DA sander to clean it before mounting? I don't have any bolts to mount it yet, I need to find some today. I had to run a tap thru the mounting holes for the pressure plate to get the bolts to go thru a couple of the holes.

The throttle response should be better, I'm swapping from a aod.

That is wierd that the clutch bolts needed tapped. Hmmm.

I wouldn't worry about anything other than the steel insert which looks good from the pics. That is the only part that your clutch disk will be touching. So no, I wouldn't bother sanding anything.

I just had my flywheel off when I rebuilt my tranny again and after 5000 miles my steel insert had one dark line around it (one hot spot) that looked like it was starting to glaze. So I scuffed up the steel insert with some emery cloth, but just enough to develope a uniform surface.

Just make sure all your bolts clear ok and mount it.

Micah