torque converter engagement, or lack therof

so i got the motor and trans nestled down in the elky tonight. all is well and good, if things keep going well should have it back on the road by Monday.

problem is, the "snout" of the torque converter wont go into the hole in the back of the crank. so I cant get the bolts in.

I put the engine/trans in as a unit, as I figured that would be much easier.

trans/converter is an 85is 700r4, engine is a 73ish 350 that until last week was coupled to a stick.

can I pry on the converter to try to get it to pop in the crank snout? is there something im missing?

I don't normally work on automatics (this is the first one I've ever reinstalled, actually. usually when I pull them out, a manual goes back in. never done the other direction), so I apologize if this is a newbie question.

I did make sure the converter was properly seated in the trans, and before getting the engine/trans mated (did not check after mating) and the converter slid in/out easily still.

what do I need to do? ill be back at the shop about lunchtime tomorrow.

Michael

Dumb question back, is there a pilot bearing in the crank?

You have to remove the old manual transmission pilot bushing from the crankshaft. No way around it.

Aw, berkeley.

I looked at the thing and thought "I don't need to take it out. Its too deep to be a problem."

I guess I'm off to remove trans and pilot bushing...

Also make sure that there are no burrs on the converter and the crank. It sucks to wrestle an engine in and then you can't get the two together because the converter won't pilot.

Well, you know this from experience now, but it would REALLY suck for it to happen twice.

"Third stage" paranoid habit is to always verify that the torque converter pilots smoothly into the trans and that the holes in the flexplate line up and are large enough. Have had to drill out flexplates in-chassis one too many times Aftermarket converters are often 7/16" instead of 3/8", and aftermarket flexplates don't always have the holes drilled large enough to get them all in.