98 Dodge Ram 1500 5.7 Magnum engine removal

Have a blown engine, connecting rod poked hole in the oil pan. Chiltons and Haynes manuals state the transmission has to be removed in order to remove the engine. It has automatic tranny and not AWD. Both state to remove the tranny inspection plate but it does not come loose from the bell housing once the bolts are removed. Other than bolts connecting the bottom of the engine block to the tranny housing can not locate bolts on the top side to release the tranny from the engine block. Anyone care to offer easy solutions. We are strictly shade tree mechanics but have removed a variety of engines from cars and small trucks but not this particular one. Vin 1B7HC1329WJ132154
Thank You…go easy on me…75yo+ and a a I Corps Namer…1969…Dinky Dau and deeDee Mau…

Remove the two transmission to engine support brackets (struts) and starter.
To remove the torque converter bolts you will need to rotote the engine to access each bolt (4). If the engine will not turn you may have to remove the torque converter after the engine is removed.

There are 3 or 4 more big bolts on the sides and top of the transmission…If you can not unbolt the converter from the flex plate, (after you get the dust cover off, clean it up and get under there with some decent LIGHT) then the engine will have to be moved forward a considerable distance, 5 or 6 inches, to allow the transmission input shaft to clear the converter. Be sure to support the transmission while the engine is being pulled…

Your 360 cu.in. engine is externally balanced, there will be a big lump of steel welded to the converter…Should you replace the engine with a 318 cu.in. motor, be sure to remove that balance weight as 318’s (5.2L) are internally balanced and do not need it… It’s always easier to have the converter in place on the transmission when installing the replacement engine…

I will add to the previous posts that the top bellhousing bolts can be tricky to get to. I have found that the easiest way to get to them is with a socket attached to a wobble extension bar (such as these: http://www.harborfreight.com/9-piece-14-38-and-12-drive-wobble-socket-extensions-67971.html ), followed by a stack of regular extension bars long enough to ratchet behind the transmission or wherever you have room to swing the ratchet. You may need to remove the transmission crossmember and drop the transmission a little bit to get to those top bolts. If you do that, be careful to keep the transmission supported, and consider removing the distributor to prevent crushing it against the firewall.

Well, a '98 Dodge Ram had either a 3.9 V6, or a 5.2 V8 or a 5.9 V8. A 5.7 V8 is a Hemi which came out more recently. I don’t know what difference there is between the engine and transmission hook up.