I am almost certain I had the fork out with the trans still in,if you remove the inspection cover I think you can get the fork up through it with a little finaggling. When I first put my 37 togather the clutch did not work right as I had the wrong fork and linkage with a original 37 bellhousing so I installed modified a original 37 fork to use on a modern throw out bearing and I dont think I had the trans out that time.