im trying to join my auto tranny to my motor, but the rod that goes from the torque converter into tranny, wont slide down the shaft. when i first pulled it it came in and out freely, but now there is a metal collar at the start of the inner shaft keeping the rod out. how do i adjust it back?

my book is no help, the auto tranny section covers very little.

Metal collar? What metal collar you got pics or diagram?

Have you changed motors from a manual car? Is it the spigot in the crank your tslking about that shouldn't be in an auto setup

yea, so anyway, it was an auto setup being transfered to a formally manual motor. its not a spigot, its actual rod with gear teeth on both ends. it needs to slide down the shaft to engage the tranny. its to late to take a picture, i know its not easy to visualize, but i was hoping someone that had an auto knew what was up

I've wrecked an auto and had a few manuals the only shaft I know on a manual is the input shaft from the manual tranny into the clutch that then interfaces with the spigot.
Does the shaft have to be there or is this the shaft from the auto into the flex plate?

its still the input shaft, but its a rod that connects the auto to the torque converter. yes they both have to be there. but the bit thats keeping the rod out of the input shaft, i have no idea about.

Sounds like a later lockup convertor and/or automatic. They look the same on the outside.

Is the auto & the convertor a matched set? Have you had them working in the car before?

Assuming you have a regular automatic, one potential problem is putting the input shaft in backwards. Normally they are not removed so it is not an issue.

Make sure the end of the shaft with the oil hole drilled in it is facing out. Then fully insert into transmission. After this the convertor should slide right in.

make sure the convertor is inside the tranmission flange at least 13.8mm (.543 inch) before attempting to install.

After fitting transmission to engine, again ensure the convertor is more than 1/2 inch inside before bolting everything up.

when i rebuild my engine the torque converter just slid onto the auto drive shaft you have you move it side to side to get it in fully