So I’m in the middle of an engine swap, and I’ve ran into an issue with the trans, the motor is basically ready to pull, however I am unable to remove the dust cover on the trans to access the torque converter bolts, the 2 mounting brackets for the trans are in the way and I can’t seem to be able to move them, am I supposed to remove the stud for the starter?

 

Yep, gotta drop the starter anyway.

If the brackets you are talking about go from the motor mounts, to the bellhousing, you need to remove those as well. Otherwise, they like to hang up on everything possible on the way out.

 

What HeyYou said. Strip every bracket and accessory from down below as much as you can so that only the 4 top bolts remain on the bellhousing. That includes pulling the exhaust manifolds if you can, and unhook the steering column (make sure you have the wheel locked in place by a bungee cord to prevent the clockspring from unwinding) and swing the secondary shaft out of the way. Plus the 2 brackets from engine to transmission, from engine to differential if 4x4 model, the starter, the distributor cap and rotor, the TV cable, trans dipstick (t's bolted to the back of the pasenger side head), the ground strap on back of both heads, and I'm sure i'm forgetting a few things.