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I am replacing the clutch and PP in my 41. My trans has OD. It looks like the best way to remove this is to unbolt the frame brace that runs under the body of the trans from the frame and remove the trans and the brace as a unit. It looks like it will be easier to also remove the brace at the tail (OD section) of the trans. Maybe the other option is to undo the trans from the center brace, leaving it attached to the frame, but I am not sure I would get enough clearance to tilt the trans out. I do have a trans jack, so that will help, and I have the engine blocked up. This is a fairly heavy piece of equipment and I am not as young, or strong as I used to be. Is this the best way to go about this?

Also, in putting it all back together, do I need to put spacers in the pressure plate to allow room to install the throughout bearing as I reassemble this?

If there is a thread on this somewhere here in the forum, if you can point me to it, I would very much appreciate it.

I would first check your owner's or shop manual for your year/model of car. (They are on this site in the literature archive.) Mine has an extensive step by step procedure to follow as a clutch replacement was a common repair.
One thing that is not mentioned is centring the clutch in the pressure plate as you reinstall it. Given the very tight tolerances and I having no specialized equipment, I left the main input shaft out of the transmission assembly to act as a centring tool while installing the clutch/pressure plate to the fly wheel. I then completed the transmission assembly and installed it onto the bell housing.
Bob J.

Others can better give advice on the conventional body frame and crossmember question but as to using the spacers on the pressure plate, Packard recommended 3/8 nuts being placed before removal to keep the fingers retracted both when removing and reinstalling the pressure plate. Cannot speak to the other models but they definitely made life easier when working with the pressure plate on the 356 engine in a Clipper.

The clutch section of the 46-50 service manual which also covers the same engines and trans available in 40 models suggests marking the flywheel and pressure plate before removal so they go back together in the same relative position.

I can only suggest from my 1940 Super experience. Mine has a two piece drive shaft. For sure you will need two jacks or similar, one to hold, raise, lower back of engine, and one to take down, twist, move the tranny with od. On my super you will need to remove all electrical wiring, the od solenoid, and od centrifugal switch. I used different size corks to block off open tranny holes so not much fluid leaking. On mine you also need to make sure the u joint propeller is going up and down to clear the X frame at the back of the od. At least one helper. And there are still some springs, forks etc., that will need to be disconnected. I have a clutch alignment tool, they may still be available for sale from a local tranny shop? Or if you have a lathe you can easily turn one. If you have the r-9 od. there will be a few things you need to watch for when you reassemble, very important. Thanks
And for the pressure plate you want to make sure you have the correct pads, if they are a modern type the may be too hard and will cause chatter when engaging.

I have a '40 110 that just got an engine transplant.

I pulled the engine, left the trans in place; the car has OD and I didn't feel like pulling the trans, cross member and driveshaft, and yanking engine and trans complete. I cleaned up the PP and reused the clutch plate that was on the '40, it was in decent shape, although I did have a new disc in case it was toast.

The manuals (39-39 and the '40 supplement) spell out the trans removal process pretty well. It would be remove driveshaft, disconnect all linkage and wiring/cables (for the OD), support the trans, remove x member, remove trans as I recall. I think you can unbolt the x member and leave it connected to the trans, then secure it to a trans jack and shift it rearwards and down, and out she comes. You will want to support the rear of the engine/flywheel with a jack.

Reinstall for me included maneuvering the engine (with flywheel, clutch and PP) into the engine bay, with the throwout bearing duct-taped to the clutch arm so that I could align the input shaft to the bellhousing and clutch assembly. Once the input shaft had made it through the clutch (which took some doing, I was under the car, son was running both the cherry picker and a floor jack) we had the engine about 1/2" from seating fully. That took a bit of aligning to engage the pilot bearing. Once all that was seated, I reached up through the bottom of the bellhousing, pulled off the duct tape, and connected the spring from the clutch release arm to the transmission.

A trans jack, plus following the shop manual should make trans removal relatively easy (for people of our vintage. I'm 63 now).

Hardest part might be just getting the clutch aligned properly prior to install. I did not have a proper diameter/tooth input shaft alignment tool; I faked it by using a series of sockets wrapped with tape and an extension, and my M1A1 eyeball.