we took the engine out yesterday no probs
came our a dream( caught on the front chassi a bit) but jacked up the gearbox more--
replaced the complete clutch centered it with the plastic tool, spent all day 4-5 hours trying to get the gearbox spline to locate
any suggestions fellas?

Sometimes the splines on the centre plate can be a bit tight, even on a good quality (Valeo) clutch. When struggling to get the engine onto the box, you can slightly damage the ends of the splines. I would take the clutch back off and check how easily the centre plate slides onto the input shaft. If necessary, carefully clean up the ends of the splines with a file. Also, after centralising the clutch with the tool, remove it and check it by eye.

turn the crank or input shaft while fitting the engine, normally it should work, if the splines aren't to damaged already.

thanks for the quick advice fellas after wiggling the engine too and fro for hours& getting bad backs- the front of the spines were worse for wear
we have constucted a tripod and winch now
we will have another go tomorrow blimming 2cvs! the engine came out but won,t go back

helps if the front is on axle stands saves it all bouncing about on the suspension and changing the angles
a flat bar accross the chassis and under the front of the bell housing keeps the box from moving too much and at the right angle for re attachment
one man holding engine by the exhaust offers it up wile the other rocks the wheel moving the input back and forth to allow the splines to mate. Once its in and the dowels in place you can let go without the death and destruction warnings from Haynes and replace the nuts at leisure.

always more difficult than made out by haynes eh!

thanks sean

File a lead on the clutch plate splines. It'll take an extra 10 mins and isn't always necessary, but it's better than struggling for hours.

And how it looks when you get it wrong....

u,mm exactly like that in your pic nelsonbase
ill post when we sort it out
steve diment our local 2cv chap is going to have a look in the week

The plastic alignment tool is pretty useless, you have to get it so you can twist it in the pilot bearing all the way round with no tight spots on the splines. You may find that you have to loosen the cover to the point where the friction plate can just be moved and re do the alignment by repeatedly twisting the tool till it can rotate freely.