I've used gasket in a tube before on the third member without any ill effects. I typically let it set up for an hour before shoving the pig home just to let it skin up and minimize the ooze.

Hopefully before you did that you checked the flatness of both the housing and the third member to make sure there was no extra gasket material, nicks or burrs to impact the fit of the two pieces.

Greasing the bearing with the needle method works well. The alternative is sitting there for 30 minutes pressing grease into the bearings by hand, moving the bearings around, and manipulating it enough to work the grease into everywhere.