rack mounting vintage gear

OK, so someone gave me a nice 40U equipment rack. I was planning on using it for my Nuclear Data ND812, which has rackmount plates for everything. I first experimented with the empty dual 8" floppy rack unit and a couple things came up. For reference take a look at these photos to see the ND812 rack units: <http://picasaweb.google.com/legalize.slc/NuclearDataND812#> First, I'd like to minimize the potential for scratching the paint on the rack mount plates. Should I use a plastic or teflon washer between the plate and the mounting screw? Like most rackmount equipment, the only support is from that front panel, so it has to be mounted pretty tight to support the weight. The maintenance manual doesn't say anything specific about mounting the equipment in a rack. Is it typical for things to be supported only by that front mounting panel, or do people add some kind of additional support in the rear? -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com/the-direct3d-graphics-pipeline/> Legalize Adulthood! <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>