[Rembrant]

Hi Folks,

As of late last night, I finally have the old '52 back in business, but it looks like I may have traded one problem for another. Transmission is back in with new 10" clutch and pressure plate, new ARP bolts, new throw-out bearing, new bronze pilot bushing, and new ring gear on the original flywheel (which I had re-surfaced at a local engine shop). It is now nice and quiet...ring gear is not hitting the starter shield, obviously...but now I have a bad shudder when pulling away from a stop in forward or reverse. Once the truck is moving, all other shifts are smooth, and driving down the road it's as smooth as it was before. The only issue is pulling away from a complete stop. If I'm already rolling, even just a little bit, it is fine.

I am usually really fussy about re-assembly...but I have to admit that I did forget to clean the surface of the pressure plate. It did have the preservative residue on there as I remember seeing it, but anyway...in my haste I forget to clean it off.

I did some Google searches, and it appears that some people claim that a shudder will go away as a clutch gets "broken in", but just as many people claim that the shudder never went away without replacing something.

I don't believe it is anything external as the issue was not present prior to me swapping out all of these parts, and the shudder starts before the truck even moves, so I can't blame bad u-joints and leaf spring bushings (I've read that some people found these to be an issue).

Any thoughts good or bad from the experts and the 'been-there, done-that" crowd?