Crank Thrusting Foreward Issues

Not.
If the trans install caused that the trans wouldn't have even worked.
It would have trashed the pump so fast you wouldn't have made it around the block.

Think about this.
The crank thrust surface is made out of steel or cast and made to take some pretty heavy loads.
The trans pump gears are powdered iron and not made to withstand hardly any thrust pressures.
It would have wiped that pump in a heartbeat if the converter wasn't seated in the drive gear.

Also, when you bolt an engine and trans together without the converter seated in the pump it's a very obvious ***** to turn the converter to line up the bolts because the converter is jammed up against the flex plate.



You are wrong on this. I've seen it done over and over and over. That thrust was killed because the OP didn't have the converter in the pump all the way. In fact, he needs to check the pump as well, as he may have killed it too. Usually the thrust goes first, before the pump.

This is an assembly issue. That's all.