Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

So it doesn't appear there is a go to plastic alignment tool. I see there are a few work arounds with broom handles/socket extensions. Am I correct that the input shaft is a 10 spline, 1 1/8 with 3/4 pilot? There are 1 1/8, 10 spline tools for sale but no mention of pilot size, might make a few calls on that.

Would it be dumb to replace only the oil fouled clutch disc and not the whole pressure plate cover assembly?

Unrelated to clutch... I've read in a few posts that copper washers are recommend under the rearmost oil pan bolts to prevent leaking into the bell, any source for those or just a hardware store?

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I think it is eleven spline but won't swear to that. The tool I made is 1 1/8 inch in diameter with a turning to .960 x 5/8 at the end to fit inside the pilot bearing. One of those dimensions was off resulting in some difficulty but don't remember which. I think the diameter of the rod which was all I had on hand is the culprit and was sloppy in the clutch plate bore but it has been too long ago to remember because it could have been sloppy lathe work too.

It would be nice to get some accurate dimensions again if someone has a plate or an input shaft for the 356 transmission laying around. There have been some postings on the forum over the years of various input shaft diameters all of which are said to be for the 356. We know the junior transmission is smaller but the sizes and the numbers do not match for the 356 either so maybe memories failed or measurement methods or locations varied.

I'm trying not to go deeper in the rabbit hole then necessary... and changing the rear main doesn't sound fun... It doesn't look like my rear main is hemorrhaging?? A good number of the oil pan bolts were loose, I think that's where most of the leaking was happening.







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Resistance is futile! Owning a 78 year old car means there is nothing but rabbit holes and many of them are very deep, dark and scary!

Your pressure plate may be most of your problem. I would replace both it and the disc.
Universal clutch aligning tool sets used to be available at low cost. Check with a good parts store. These consisted of a spindle and a selection of sliding metal cones and several pilot bearing adapters. One set would cover most any car or light truck ever made. KD and others made them. Snugging up your oil pan bolts will probably cut down on oil leakage.

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Yes, I still have the set of wood aligning tools that I bought back in the ‘60s, one of which got a workout a while back on my 1951 Henney-Packard.

Problem with universal sets easily available today is they are sized for modern import size cars with transmissions having fairly small shafts.. For the 356 trans you almost need a set sized for trucks. While there were a few sets listed on Amazon that appeared to have one or two larger adapters, nothing was mentioned as to size to know if it would work and didn't see any sets specific to trucks.