Hello Hawk, It sounds very irritating.
The shuttle should go in with the flat side to the front and the point to the right. If you look at my blog (link below) and click on the heading Transverse Shuttles on the right you will see the posts (nine so far) I have put there about TS machines. Also if you watch my video about threading a Little Vesta, everything about the shuttle is likely to apply to your machine.
Tip the machine back in its base and look at the shuttle carriage from the underneath. You will soon see whether you have got it in the the right or wrong way round.
Frankly, I don't think you would even have been able to shut the slide plate if the shuttle was in the wrong way round.
Last edited by Muv; 01-14-2013 at 01:27 PM.