The whole package is what I would have done if I elected to remove all of the front sheet metal. I may be wrong, but I don't think a home-garage-type engine puller is going to give enough height to pull the engine with the tranny attached. I think it would take high ceiling - overhead crane type hoist.
My very first install of the 4.6/4R70W was with no sheet metal on the front. easy-peasy, but when you consider all the wiring , A/C plumbing, etc.  that is attached to or weaving thru all of that sheet metal, you don't want to remove it.
I have another issue to address when I get it back. I apparently have a leak / hole from a broken weld on my oil pan. I had modified the oil pan for more cross-member clearance. It was good for 74k miles, we must have damaged that area as well when we installed the engine. It wasn't leaking just sitting there, so probably because the oil level had dropped low enough...until the engine was running. It left a puddle on Marty's trailer, and I later saw a larger one on my garage floor. I went back to the transmission shop to have them check for a rear main seal leak, (now would be the time to fix), but he raised the lift up so we could have a look, and it appears to be coming from that area I had modified/welded. The oil pan is right up against the cross-member there, so when I get it back, I'm going to move the engine/tranny forward about 1/4" where it should be. I'll probably end up raising the engine to get the oil pan off for repair.
I'm thinking the reason for it being up against the crossmember instead of forward that 1/4", may be the fact that the original '95 engine I had used a block that was cast in Italy. The later '97 block was cast in the USA, so possibly a slight difference there?

Just got a call from the trans. shop. They got the car back together, but it's a no go. 1st and 2nd only, and slipping in reverse. Apparently running the engine with the fluid not pumping caused the damage. I'll get it back mid-week with a rebuilt transmission. Lesson learned the hard way.

Rich, when pulling & installing engines I've always separated them from the trans. However I have very often seen this done with both units still bolted together on TV shows like Roadkill, Roadkill Garage, Garage Squad, etc with the typical cherry-picker garage-type engine hoist. At first I was a bit surprised to see them pull both at once but it did take more than one person to do it.
Someone usually has to get up behind the engine & stand on the trans in order to tilt the whole works until it clears the trans housing & firewall. I've hardly ever had or needed a helper when pulling & installing the engine separate from the trans
Aside from some other reasons all your transmissions problems just reinforces my long standing hate of automatic transmissions. I can see why drag racers use them but in a road car I really hate the damn things.

My issues are all on me....wrong decisions.......and a bunch of them, like dominos.
I don't have it back from the transmission shop. It got put in the back storage garage until he makes time for it again.

  It's the only way I've ever installed the 460 in my 57 is with the trans attached. Seeing as it's only me doing the work I couldn't imagine trying to lineup a c6 and fiddle around with the flex plate studs......forget that. The angle has to be quite steep and you usually leave a few quarts of atf on the floor, the rad support is biggest obstacle, some scrapes on the trans tunnel but other than that it's no big deal. My old garage only had 8 foot ceilings and height was never a problem.

Quote from: rmk57 on 2024-02-25 10:16It's the only way I've ever installed the 460 in my 57 is with the trans attached. Seeing as it's only me doing the work I couldn't imagine trying to lineup a c6 and fiddle around with the flex plate studs......forget that. The angle has to be quite steep and you usually leave a few quarts of atf on the floor, the rad support is biggest obstacle, some scrapes on the trans tunnel but other than that it's no big deal. My old garage only had 8 foot ceilings and height was never a problem.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                  

If I'm pulling from a donor car, I leave everything attached.  But most of the time, I will split but I take the transmission out first.  The Custom and the Raunch Wagon are both heavily modified.  The 460 doesn't want to clear the core support and the R&P steering.  The Custom engine bay is finished and the 460 is a handful even without the transmission attached.  One of the advantages of taking the engine alone is that I pull over the fender and leave the hood installed.  I'm not working on the floor...pulling the transmission is no big whoop with a hoist.  It is critical when leaving the transmission in the vehicle to use alignment pins to align the bell housing.  I made up a little strap/bracket to slip between the flex plate and the torque convertor to keep the convertor in place. 
PS...I just looked at some old pictures and I realized both engines have road race oil pans.  The pans are wider than the lower control arm rear bushings so the engine cannot go straight up...it must go forward and then up.

Quote from: rmk57 on 2024-02-25 10:16...with the trans attached... couldn't imagine trying to lineup a c6 and fiddle around with the flex plate studs ...

Out of all the many engines I've swapped in & out I can only recall doing it with 3 cars that had automatic transmissions & never did them with the trans attached. Maybe I just got lucky but I never had any problems getting things lined up & bolted together. Never dumped trans fluid all over the floor either. What a mess that must be! Doing this with the engine & trans attached always sounded to me like doing it the hard way.

I picked up my car yesterday morning. We had a really bad day for wind yesterday, so just came straight home and parked her in my garage. I don't like bad wind on an open Texas highway, so wouldn't try putting it thru the paces. It's supposed to be windy again today, so maybe have to wait until tomorrow. I'm still going to have to fix the oil pan pinhole/crack (?) that is leaking, but my tranny shop did push the engine forward about 1/4+ as I had asked, so I can get a better look at the leak area.

Man, I'm either getting too old, or just too lazy, lol. I've run my car maybe 20 miles or so, and very happy with engine and rebuilt transmission. Just smooth as silk. I don't want to chance running it too much til I can get the oil pan hole/leak fixed. I decided just to have a shop pull the oil pan for me. He's going to pull it Friday, and call me so I'll have the weekend to reweld the pan back up and have it ready for him to reinstall Monday.

With age comes wisdom. You're getting wiser! (glass is 1/2 full!) 

good choice to have back breaking jobs done by pro shops, Rich. Great to hear your 57 is back up and running again ! Now we want to see further pics of your trips !

G! Was wondering where you had been. Thought maybe some woman with lots of money had kidnapped you and run off with you to the French Riviera! 

I did get it back this afternoon. Driving home seemed fine, so I took it out for a short run got about 10 miles from home and started running really crappy. Wasn't sure it was going to make it, and honestly don't have a clue what's up. Tonight I'm walking away from it, tomorrow, I'll check loose wires, run an engine code list, ect.

I got to thinking, this afternoon, the car was running not unlike it did when I ended up losing the engine back in October. So, maybe I fixed all the resultant broken stuff except what caused the issue to begin with........hmmmm. Maybe a bad ignition control module or CPU. I'll have to do some research.