Perkins cautionary

This might help other Perkins owners.
On my Perkins, my first damper plate lasted 18 years, the second 10, and the third 6. Never gave it much thought but decided to dig a little deeper this time. I had looked at the shop manual each other time and read the section on aligning the bell housing with the crankshaft using a dial indicator. I had never done this because my engine had two 1/2" dowel pins that kept everything in alignment besides, the bell housing had never been removed or disturbed since new.
This time I decided to check the alignment with my dial indicator and although still firmly doweled and bolted in position, it was out .080"....
Ten times the recommended .008 max eccentricity.
I am still in the process of turning the necessary offset dowel pins and redrilling the holes to set it straight so I can't report final outcome.
I do suggest that anyone changing their Perkins damper plate or servicing their transmission check the bell housing transmission opening for concentricity with the crankshaft. A 20 minute procedure and well worth the time. That is 20 minutes to check it, not to fix it...

How is the damper plate bolted on?
Is there any play up, down, sideways as in can the plate move around on its mounting?

My own setup, Palmer IH 392 from 1970 is still on its original dampers. When I went looking for them online, they look just like those used in Detroit Diesels, they are held on by a circular periphery of many bolts on its edge. I too have wondered about alignment issues as it seems there must be some tiny amount of slop that exists, but AFAIK, it never caused me a problem.

If the plate is off center, then as it spins around, there is going to be a small amount of up and down movement relative to the shaft. My own plate looks like a clutch plate, with a loose central hub and springs arranged in a circle, so maybe that system can handle being misaligned. I did pour gear oil on the whole thing when putting it together, as it has moving parts.

It looks like this one for a DD

Not clear where you are measuring that 0.080". Can you post a photo?