Hi again, ivica and thank you for responding.
1. Yes, I measured the VC and it looks to be genuine
2. Haha, yes, unfortunately it was impossible to center the cone with this spider as it seemed to have sagged after 31 years, I'm going to start turning my 2235h 180 degrees around every 4 months or so from now on. In an attempt at removing the spider, I will try to use a heated surgical scalpel and gently, gently, gently try to cut away the spider to have it replaced.
When, not if, everything goes pear shaped I have also secured a brand new genuine recone kit I'm going to attempt at installing, should be interesting
3. Yes, I've done that and the VC seems perfectly circular, so it was probably a sagged spider as there were no large pieces of dirt in the gap.