Yes I considered that but my fear was if anyone is doing such a mod and not done just right it could leak later on and/or suck air into system
Using a shim does not take more then a 1/2 to do the swap and using different thickness shims would dicate when stat begins to open

Also the newer stats function differently ( starting around 2002 model years on C5) and may also require some of the main spring to be cut down.