[FWDLK] Pardon me ma'am, you're pressure plate is showing

[Dan Morton <morton@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Folks,

The world's slowest auto mechanic now has the standard 3-spd. transmission
ALMOST in.  I say almost, because after I hoisted it with a floor jack and
slid the shaft through the throwout bearing and pressure plate, it's hung up
about 1 1/2" from the bell housing.  My guess is that the splines aren't
aligning with the clutch plate; turning the emergency brake drum while the
transmission is in gear doesn't seem to help.

I used a tool to align the clutch plate before I locked down the pressure
plate, and before I started putting the tranny in, I could sight everything
to see that it was still in alignment.  I guess the transmission is off
center a bit, but it's hard to see where I'm off while I'm on my back
fooling around.

I thought about pressing on the clutch a bit to nudge the clutch plate, but
I'm likely to throw everything off.  Just now, it occurred to me I could get
two long bolts to "pilot" the tranny into place while I play around.  I do
have the lower bell housing piece off, so I can see the pressure plate and
clutch, and could even fool around from there.

Never had this problem before!  (Admittedly, the last time I did this was 32
years ago, in a '63 Polara.)  Does anyone have advice for me?  If anyone
likes the "pilot bolt" approach, please let me know the upper bolt
size/tpi -- the car is 30 miles from here, with no hardware store nearby.

        adTHANKSvance,
        Dan
        '55 Savoy