ok so trans is up and bolt back in after replacing.
but the studs for the torque converter are sitting flush thru the hole of flex plate. so Imma guess the gap is roughly 1/4 inch. no guarantee. all stuff is stock so anyone with insight tell me if it's safe to pull forward n will it still be deep in the pump enough to be ok? reading 1/4 in the very max it could pull forward. but maybe some in here knowing length of studs on converter and thickness of flex plate am I ok? studs are thru holes just sitting flush so I can't catch any threads
thanks.

 

Doesn't sound right at all. All the Fords I've done over the years will have like three threads protruding through when things are right.

C6/E40D flexplates are almost identical to 4R70W flexplates except for a tiny bit of offset. I know if you use a C6 flexplate with a 4R70 transmission it pins the converter too far back. So if you had a 4R70W flexplate and a C6/E40D/4R100 transmissio I would expect to see exactly what you've described.

 

Just slide the converter forward and tighten the bolts down. A bit of play is normal to keep things from binding when the metals expand.