Tossing a bunch of parts together so I can run a charity cruise this Saturday and I've run into a conundrum. I put my old torque converter in my '69 T350 and turned and pushed it until it dropped in several times. It looked like it was up against the seal so I installed the transmission up against a '76 350 and as soon as I tighten the bell housing bolts the torque converter is tight against the flywheel. The flywheel looks like it might be a little thicker on the '76 block than the '69 was. Is there supposed to be a little room between the torque converter and flywheel before you start tightening bolts? I loosened the bell housing bolts to line up the flywheel with the torque converter but couldn't push it back any further. Do I need to loosen it back up and try to shove the converter on further? What say you?
The torque converter is not seated. It can be difficult to do with the transmission bolted to the engine. I know you don't want to hear this, but you'll probably need to separate them.
There are 3 engagements. The first is the two slots in the converter hub. I always line that up first with the front pump tangs. Then turn and push. There are 2 sets of splines, input shaft, and stator splines. You should feel the converter drop 2 times after engaging the pump tabs.
I've read that the best way to seat the convertor is with the trans vertical. Have a helper hold it up so you are gently dropping it into the trans. Watch your fingers!
Unbolted the bell housing and torque converter and wiggled and spun and got the last engagement. Tightened up the bell housing and the converter spun freely, reattached it to the flywheel and that jobs done!
