Welcome, This is a great place.
What kind of transmission do you have? The reason I ask is this.

Usually the transmission will have the bell housing attached to the Transmission body at this point and I assume yours is. Well the torque converter should then be attached to the transmission by lifting it by hand and inserting it to the spline there (some trans oil should be put into the converter prior to this). The method to floating it onto the transmission spline is to gently rotate it back and forth as you push it on. It should CLUNK three to for times.

THEN the engine can be mated to the transmission easily with a load leveler and lift with gentle movements . Let me know if you understand where I am at so far.

IMPORTANT !!!! When the bell housing is lined up and flush with the engine by using your hands only ....bring the torque converter to the flex plate first. To do this without issues DO NOT pull the bell housing to the engine with bolts. You may cause damage this way if you did not completely clunk the torque converter on all the way (To attach the torque converter to the flex plate first makes proper installation impossible) and damage will follow from not seating the torque converter to the Trans spline as mentioned above.

...after lining up the engine so it slips into the same flat plane as the bell housing and the nubs that line up the two are in place and NO bolts have been used yet, now you can reach under the to the service plate area and gets your fingers on a torque converter bolt and pull the converter to the flex plate and attach your first nut. At this point you can test that there is no binding and you have everything done correctly...when you pull that converter nut through the hole in the flex plate you should be able to grab the bolt and waggle it in place back and forth. The converter should be as easy to turn as it was before you mated the engine. Now you can move on with confidence that you will not damage the converter and have to pull every thing again to repeat this.


So before you begin make sure you line up the flex plate by rotating the engine so a bolt hole is at the bottom for proper grabbing later. Also test fit by hand the converter to the flex plate so you know where the drain hole should be lined up when you attach th converter to the spline. The whole process is easy and works the first time as long as you understand everything needs to be done by hand and be flush up until the first nut on the flex plate is put and by hand. Then the slow process of rotating the engine to expose one torque bolt at a time at the bottom to put the nut on and continue. Remember to NOT fully torque the first time around, you want everything to seat evenly.

REMEMBER , nothing should bind and everything MUST be done by hand to make it flush to assure the torque converter is not damaged. I probably seat me converter 5 times just to make sure it clunked as far as it should go. Again put oil in the converter hole first, not a hole lot but enough to almost make it spill out when held vertically. I have ever done this kinda thing before and read read read many many site and info and what I have outline above should make it a success for you too.

 

Did you put the spacer plate on the block before you put the flex plate on?

Like this

 

You bolted the converter to the flexplate THEN tried to bolt the transmission to the engine?
Bad. The torque converter has to be fully seated into the transmission FIRST. This often takes some spinning and fiddling to get it fully seated into the transmission's front pump.
Bolting it up the way you did very often results in a damaged front pump. The converter studs are being forced into the engine because the converter isn't seated. If the bellhousing bolts weren't tightened down super tight, it's possible the front pump may have survived (but doubtful). If you're feeling lucky you might try reseating the converter and taking another go. Best to haul the trans to a shop and have it checked out though. Tell them what happened. It's kind of a dumb mistake but a LOT of people have done the same thing, any transmission shop will have seen this problem many many times. It even happens at transmission shops, but they usually know to spot the warning signs to catch the problem before any pump damage is done. Usually. There's always new employees that have to learn.

 

A flexpate will flex, hence it's name. If you bolt the TC to the flexplate then try to marry the transmission to it and the block, you will end up flexing the flexplate forward.

 

GypsyR +5

The torque converter takes a few times to get right when mating it to the transmission. There are 3 distinct clunks when getting it together. The outer splines, the input shaft splines, THEN the TC into the pump. Notice on the TC that there are two flat spots around the hole. These flat spots click into a certain spot on the pump that's hidden by the seal.

When the TC is in all the way:
1. You shouldn't be able to get your hand all the way behind it. it ends up real tight again the bellhousing.
2. Grab a straight edge - the whole TC should be inside the bellhousing. The TC "Snout" might be just inside flush with the straight edge, but usually clearly inside by 1/8'' or so.

You've also got to get the TC bolts in the right flexplate holes, as well as the TC drain plugs if you have them.

I don't think you got it tight enough to damage the front pump. I'd continue on and hope for the best.

Yes, it's a Major PITA - do it right the first time, and hope you'll never have to do it again.

 

All, thanks for your replies,

@Mark, I'm using a C4 with new 157t flexplate, and yes I put the aluminum block plate on first, then the flexplate, then the torqueconverter.

Because I was repainting the engine bay, I had everything out and it was easy to just pull the motor and not the transmission. Hence, I had preinstalled the TC to the flexplate and then dropped it in and mated with the tranny. Things slid together well (several 'clunks') without a whole lot of jostling needed. (I'm using a lift leveler so l get the same angle on the tranny and block).

I am able to seat the bellhousing to the top of the engine block, but I'm getting a gap on the 5th and 6th bellhousing bolts. When I looked at the TC bolts I could see through the inspection plate, I saw that they were toughing the block plate.

I'll pull the motor and transmission out, mate them together as you all say, and then put it back in. Anyone have an idea to check the front pump? Really don't want to haul that to a shop if I don't have too.

 

The method I explained could be done with the Transmission in the car and could save you the time of taking it out. It is just Way easier to do this with both of them sitting out. So... If you have patients (spelling) and do not my going back and forth on your back , leave the tranny in the car and remember that this task is actually easy if you accept that it is definitely a brain over braun task. EVERYTHING has to be lined up as far as holes for the flex to torque, drain hole too. If it is not lined up and off by an inch , you will be laying on your back trying to move that inch. I took almost an hour checking and rechecking , then when I dropped the engine down and found out it was off I just had to barely touch and rotate the converter a 16th or so and try again. The hard part is having the vision in your head for 3D, it will not slip on if one of the axes if off. I adjusted the leveler many times too with it all sitting and hanging together a l m o s t together. Then with one of the many adjustments to the angle it clapped together all on its own. It is the only task I have done so far that required much more thinking and patience. Remember when together correctly you can easily rattle the converter bolt on its axes in the hole before you put that nut on, this confirms all is good.

 

Get some threaded rod the same size as your bell housing to engine bolts . Cut the rod about 7-8 inches long and install it into the engine bolt holes. (two rods will do if they are installed in the bolt holes nearest the engine to bell housing alignment pins) Then slide the transmission back on the rods. It makes getting your hand in there to wiggle the torque converter a bit easier when you are trying to seat it on the splines.

 

Thanks again folks for the comments. I've decided to pull the motor and the transmission out so that I can make sure I've not done any damage. Any input on what to look for on the front pump to see if I've stressed it? I'm assuming the torque converter will be easy to inspect.

 

If you didn't do any malicious torquing of the tranny bolts in the effort to matethe tranny and engine, most likely, you didn't damage any thing, including the input haft and pump. I have done this job a few time and like the others, first, is this a new converter? The reason I ask, is you should prefill the converter as much as you can. Again, mate the converter to the input shaft, the first insert, will be easy, the second will require some turning a finessing to get it to get fully seated. You will know when this happens, you will feel it slip over the next set of splines. I've done this whole gig with just 18" of head room, while lying on my back, so, it should be a friggin breeze out of the car.
Good Luck1

 

After the converter seats the first time, to get it to then slide back and seat into the pump sometimes requires not only spinning it but wiggling it up and down or side to side as your turning it. The first time you do it, it generally takes forever. lol. You figure out how to hold your tongue as you do it more often and you'll speed things up.

 

The pump drive isn't really inspectable to the untrained eye without partial teardown of the front pump. The snout of the converter is pretty darn tough and I'll bet won't have a mark on it.
The way you describe having a gap between the bellhousing and block makes it sound like you didn't really torque down on the bellhousing bolts too much. In most cases I've seen like that (and I've seen a few), you can probably reseat the converter and be OK. (Alright, I have personally done just that once myself too, and it worked OK for me.)
Now if you had jammed the converter and then run the engine, damage would be guaranteed. Junkyards that sell used transmissions to do-it-yourselfers see that scenario a LOT.