I am tearing apart a 54 Chrysler 331. I went to pull the torque converter with the fly wheel attached and it stopped after moving about half and inch. Won't move in or out. Just stuck there. I oiled, BP, transmission fluid and lacquer mix, Kroil, for the past five months to get it to loosen up. Spent the last two days trying to remove this thing with no luck. Aside from tearing it down until that would be the last thing to remove, does anyone know what might keep it from coming out. The owners repair manual is so vague, all it says is to pull it straight out once the bell housing is removed.
Is it stuck in the transmission or flex plate ? it should just slide out of the transmission . Never seen one seized. On the flex plate side it could be seized on the center dowel or pin.
Seems to me you need to remove the bolts around the outside of the converter and split it from the flywheel. Last one we did; engine was siezed and we broke the transmission bell to access the bolts.
That's what I plan on if I can't get it out. The shaft is stuck inside the engine block. The plate attaching to the block is loose, its already cracked so I'll have to get my ten pound sledge out and finish breaking it off so I can get to the bolts
It sounds like you have a M4/M6 Fluid Drive trans, NOT the Powerflite...correct? Do you have a 'clutch' pedal in addition to the gas/brake? This assembly has attaching bolts with nuts on the engine side of the crank flange; this requires a long box-end wrench and skinny fingers to spin the nuts off once loose. I have never seen these nuts rusted or otherwise difficult to remove other than doing them one at a time. Now the bad news...if the engine is stuck then you will indeed disassemble everything else before you can remove the crank with parts attached. Yes, there is one bolt that is behind the flywheel. Back it out until it hits the flywheel then cut off the head of the bolt. Back it out again with pliers and cut off another 1/4 inch or so...repeat ...repeat. Do not cut it flush against the bell. Once removed, the bell should lift off. If the engine is stuck then resign yourself to the fact that the flywheel will stay in place until the crank is out.