Aaronmbata

I’m trying to remove the valve body from my 1963 Roto 10 Hydramatic, and I can’t seem to find a way to physically remove it from the transmission. All the screws/bolts are out, shifter linkage is removed, and I can wiggle it enough to get the fluid lines out, but I can’t get it to clear the shifter stem from the housing. Any tricks?

Backstory, I’m trying to check for stuck valves, and see if the bypass valves are bad. I can fire the car up and drive around for 5-10 minutes just fine, but then abruptly lose all gears except for 1st and reverse. Some research has pointed me to the front clutch bypass valve, so that’s what I’m trying to check. The car sat for MANY years before I got it, so there also might be some junk in the valve body sticking the valves. ANY insight is also welcome. Thanks!