CL017 CLUTCH

I have replaced the plates and chainwheel of my 1961 Venom with parts from the club spares co., and now find it impossible to start the thread on the sleeve gear nut.
I have made up a peg spanner to apply pressure while turning the nut and have also followed all the assembly instructions given by John Hannis in Fishtail no.349, butstill no luck.
A 20 spring carrier is fitted, and I wonder if this is contributing to the difficulty. If I remove four springs at equal spacing will it function as a 16 spring unit ? - Richard Stevenson, 3/6/2006