Early SBC with a 4L60E Question

[Machiatto]

I have a 1966 Buick Skylark that I just setup with an 1983 305 and a 4L60E. The engine is a two piece main, externally balanced crank. Originally with 200 automatic from a Camaro. The trans is from a 1996 C1500 with a 350. It has a one piece bell-housing and bolted right up - no issues there. I am using an EZ-TCU controller. All wired up and functional - no issues there. The issue I am having is the torque convertor wont slide up to the flex plate. The flex plate holes align, and the ring gear aligns with the starter so I don't think I need to move the flex-plate. I am thinking that the pin/nose at the front of the torque convertor is hitting the back of the crank - like it's too long or the crank is too shallow. There are a million adaptors out there but nothing that suggests that you can mate the this trans to this crank. Maybe I didn't do my homework well enough. I'm gonna pull the trans soon to see what's up but was wondering if anyone else has bumped into this and found a solution. For right now I created 3 .200" shims and bolted the convertor to the flex-plate and everything works and drives, but it's a hokey fix and I don't think it's a good idea as a permanent fix. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks -

[Machiatto]

I pulled the trans this weekend and solved the issue. Which was one I created. Wanting to set the engine up and NOT have to deal with trans control issues right away I assembled everything except I did not bolt the torque convertor to the flex-plate. This gave me a chance to set the timing, break in the cam, all that stuff before I had to deal with programming the TCU, dealing with cooler line leaks and the like. However at some point while running the engine, the torque convertor bumped up against the crank end and galled the nose of the convertor. This kept me from sliding the torque convertor into place when the time came. 2 minutes with a flat file fixed it right up.

So the good news is this combination of early 2 piece rear main crankshaft and 4L60E works great. My pieces were all bolt up. I used the original 305 flex-plate. The nose of the torque convertor is 1.700" and the back of the crank is 1.700" so the alignment is perfect. Hopefully this info helps someone else down the road thinking about a similar swap.