Okay, This is begnning to drive me crazy. Had my M20 rebuilt and in the process, I replaced the very worn pilot bushing. We are having zero luck so far getting everything to line up so the input shaft will go all the way into the bearing. The el cheapo plastic allignment tool wasnt getting us anywhere, so I got an old 10 splin shaft to use (same as mine) thinking that surely that will allign things, right? It is closer now, but still off enough the where even the old shaft wont seat, it still hits the leading edge of the bushing. We have tried multiple times to push the clutch in part way, all the, etc. and the disk seems really tight and won't move when guiding it with the old shaft. I torqued the pressure plate to 35 ft/lbs. I am at the point of losening the pressure plate with shaft in place to basically start over here. Any thoughts or pearls of wisdom??? It's starting to be no fun! Oh, that's right, it's a hobby!:(

This is a very common problem, lol. I must have installed hundreds of clutches and trannies and every so often I would get one of these.

First, make damn sure the new bushing will accept the input shaft. If you peened it over while installing, then the input shaft will never go in. Lately, I have been using the roller bearing bushings. They seem to work nice.

If you're certain the input shaft will go into the bushing OK, then it's basically an alignment problem with the "special tool" that looks like the input shaft. You can't just put the clutch on (loosely) then put the tool in all the way into the bushing, and then tighten the clutch. I mean, this is what you THINK would work, but it typically doesn't. The weight of the clutch disc will pull the tool ever-so-slightly out of alignment with the bushing. If it's off by just a fraction of an inch, you won't be able to get the tranny inserted all the way.

This is how I do it now:

1) thoroughly degrease all parts, then install clutch and pressure plate loosely
2) insert alignment tool all the way
3) gently tighten pressure plate bolts until disc just starts to get held in place
4) at this point, I carefully align the tool, working it (and the clutch disc) up/down and right/left, to get approximate centering
5) Remove tool and confirm alignment visually. I line up my eye directly in line with the bushing centerline and then make sure the clutch splines are evenly spaced
6) I keep tweaking the disc (using the tool) until it's visually perfect
7) the alignment tool should now slide in/out all the way with NO effort
8) I tighten the 6 pressure plate bolts to spec and recheck alignment, again, tool should go in/out with NO effort
9) install bellhousing and throwout bearing, positioning bearing directly in line. Also, make sure bearing is properly on arm!
10) carefully insert tranny, so as not to disrupt throwout bearing
11) slide her home

That does it every time for me!

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Thanks Dave for such an awsome detailed explaination. We were not as careful as you described when we first installed the disk and pressure plate. We will slow it down, and follow your advice, I will post the outcome.

I have two long headless bolts that I have used through the years as guide bolts to help me R&R a tranny!

I put them in finger tight one above the other on the side opposite the shifter and insert my tranny, (NOW w/ the help of a friend b/c I can't press one up in there by myself anymore), and shake it good and it generally pop's right in!

And that cheap plastic alignment dealie works FINE by me!!

pdq67