Diesel Bombers - help with '94 6.5 diesel fuel filter issue needed

My son just bought this '94 Chev Suburban 2500 6.5 diesel. The other morning it got down to 2 degrees F and she ran poorly. It had anti-gel in it but today I tried to change the filter. Man, it was nasty and had lots of dirt at the bottom of the housing.

The old element had 4 black plastic tabs on the top cap which retained the paper filter in place. The old paper filter had black plastic rings on each end.

The new filter has a raised aluminum top. The plastic tabs on the old cap prevent it from rising up high enough to meet the top of the cap. This raises the whole element enough to prevent me from screwing the whole thing down to where it should go.

Question: can I just cut those black plastic tabs off the old cap so the filter element will be able to fit up in the housing? The o-ring seems like it would be fine.

I hope I explained this ok...

This is my first post on this forum, but seeing as how this vehicle looks like she needs some TLC it won't be my last!

Thanks so much-

Peter