<VV> UGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

[Sara Southerland]

Hello All,
I am new to this site and I have a 64 Monza Convertible that I have owned for a little over 2 years. It has a power glide transmission. I think this is one of the coolest cars that I have ever seen and when someone brought it into the dealership where I worked and traded it in, I knew that I had to have it. Once his deal was home I took her home. In September I parked it due to the fact that it began to spit out white smoke from the exhaust and I was losing power. The engine caught fire a few years before I got it and was completely rebuilt. Since I have parked it I have replaced the Starter, the coil, the battery, the carbs, plugs, plug wires, distributor, distributor cap, air filter, manifolds, exhaust, and converted the generator to an alternator. 
  Now on to the problems, two weeks ago I was able to get it to start and idle, however the carbs were not balanced and when I took it for the test drive at 25 mpg it began backfiring and I lost all power, so I limped it home. Well in trying to get it all fixed and evened out somehow or another the starter tore up the teeth on my torque converter (PG). So now when I turn the key I can hear the starter engage and spin but I won't catch the teeth on the TC. So now I guess I will be replacing a torque converter. Will I have to pull the engine in order to do this or is there an easier way. I have very limited mechanical experience and would not feel comfortable pulling the engine myself, so if I have no other options I would appreciate any suggestions for mechanics in the Jacksonville NC area that would be qualified to hand my baby to. I would love to do the work on my own however I have no gear-head friends and though I am not a dummy trying to read and
 decipher this shop manual is like trying to decipher Mayan hieroglyphics for me. I would appreciate any advice or help that I could get.
 
Thanks,
 
Chris Keel
Jacksonville, NC