I've got the clutch itself (SBC 3600 6 CB Dual Disc) all bolted in and ready to go. Used the new input shaft as the alignment tool, as the alignment tool supplied was sub par (I thought it would've been steel). A lot tighter fit to the shaft than I was expecting. Anyway, I noticed that the input shaft won't go into the disc center unless its dead straight. Which is bad news, as even when I have the front of the engine lifted up (to tilt it back), the top of my tranny is dragging on the floor pan.

Is it easier to install it with the bellhousing attached to the tranny, as opposed to the engine? On removal, I just unbolted the tranny from the bellhousing, and slid it out. I noticed that the new throwout bearing took some playing to get it to slide onto the input shaft spindle, so I'd think installing it on the tranny first would be the way to go. But I'm looking for any advice from people who've done this before. I already wasted most of my day in rain and cold (forecast is the same for the next 3 days), so the less time I'm outside, the better.

 

Are you using a tranny jack?

When I did my first clutch change a while back I used a mechanics mirror to ensure that I had the disc hub and input shaft engaged properly. I then started the bell housing bolts and walked the tranny in equally just make sure to use common sense.

I basically ran into the same trouble as you.

 

Negative on the tranny jack. I've got a scissor jack with a 12x12" plate welded to it, and has some good casters on the bottom, that is doing an ok job hoisting the tranny into place. I'm gonna attempt putting it in again tomorrow with the bellhousing attached. Should be able to more of what I'm doing atleast.