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Well my clutch disc and pressure plate arrived today so I began reassembling the parts. The flywheel is very heavy and after installing a new sealed pilot bearing I tried in vain to lift the piece up onto the crankshaft by hand. I mounted the flywheel onto a floor jack and lifted with one hand while guiding with the other until I got it close and then lifted it the final 6" or so and installed one bolt. I discovered then that two of the bolt holes have a different spacing from the other four. I held the plate against the crank with one hand and rotated it slowly until al the holes lined up. Something to remember next time. The pressure plate with the disc would not go inside the bellhousing as the clutch release fork was in the way. I gave up after several attempts. The solution was to figure a way to depress the clutch springs and hold them in place. The picture shows how I managed to do this. The block of wood was on a small floor jack and the tool was a seal installer pushing on an old throw out bearing. Not pretty but it did work. Once the springs were depressed I placed 3/8" nuts under each finger of the plate and the springs were held in depressed mode. With that the plate easily slipped up into place. Tomorrow or someday soon when I get time I will install the transmission (seen in background on the jack..

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Dave, a valiant effort. I can hardly wait until it is my turn. Your description did arrive in my PM box, but the photos here help. I wished I could have been there to help.

Dave,

As the old saying goes "Necessity is the mother of invention".http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/17/messages/524.html

To keep our Packards on the road, or to get them back on the road, solutions must be found to fit or overcome the circumstances we face. I salute your ingenuity and perseverance in doing what had to be done.

John and Mal, Thanks for your support. I put the pressure plate and clutch on today and was hoping to report that I also had the ttansmission installed but it was not to be. I think that the guide bolts I fabed up are too long and began to bind when the clutch shaft reached the disc spline. I finally removed them and tried again since I had more flexibilty but the trans slipped over on one side of the jack and I was just to tired and weak to give it another go so I spent some time applying POR15 to some of the clutch linkage and trans support pieces. Tomorrow howver is another day and I will cut the guide bolts down a bit and see if that helps. Any and all suggestions and tips welcomed!

Dave, I hope not to offend, but did you line up the disc with a pilot shaft when you installed the disc and pressure plate? If you don't have an old transmission input shaft to use as a pilot, you can get a pilot tool at most auto supply stores. I believe the splines on the Packard match some of those used by Chevrolet. That is the only thing I can think of except having another person there helping you. I have a sign in my garage: Rule #1 First do no harm. Rule #2 See Rule #1. Rule #3 No exceptions. Be careful and don't hurt yourself.

John, No offence taken. Yes I have a pilot shaft of the correct diameter and the disc is well centred. I had the splines of the shaft right up against the disc. I will give it another go soon and let you know how I make out. Thanks

Maybe I should keep my mouth shut here but here goes anyway. While reading the posts regarding the installation of your clutch and pressure plate some things came to mind. #1, The clutch fork should just about fall into place and not be in the way of anything. #2 The thought occurred to me that most clutch discs can be installed backwards meaning the wrong side towards the flywheel. Maybe the center casting of the disc is contacting the back of the flywheel and not allowing the disc to move forward enough.

Sounds to me like something is really wrong. You should never have to force or compress anything.

Just my two cents worth.

dave,
an idea for your consideration. when i am changing clutches, i try to have the trans in high gear. that way if the imput shaft splines are not perfectly aligned with those in the disc, i can use the output shaft and turn the trans untill the imput splines line up. just an idea that may help you.

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Bob, Thanks for you input but the 1947 Packard manual states that in order to remove the pressure plate the springs must be depressed and 3/8" nuts placed under each finger in order for the plate to be removed. I have never encountered this procedure with any vehicle before but obviously this in necessary with at least the 356" engine Packards since this procedure is not mentioned in the 1951-54 Service Manual or the MOTORS manual that I have also. There was absolutely no way that the clutch pressure plate could be installed easily without compressing the pressure plate springs. The disc is correctly installed and once the springs were depressed and the nuts installed the assembly went in with plenty of room.

Greendragon, Good tip and one that I use also, thanks! I think in this case my pilot bolts are just slightly smaller by about 1/16" diameter than the trans to bell housing bolts. I fabricated some bolts of the exact diameter today and when I get the chance I will see if that was the problem with spline alignment since 1/16" is probably enough to cause a binding issue.