Trans and / or converter damaged?

its hard to tell by the pics, but it doesnt look that bad. i mean it may be a little wore out, but its not blowen up. theres no mechanical connection between the motor and the tranny with a non lock-up convertor. its a fluid coupler. so unless the convertor was serously damaged and seized together, it wouldent cause your direct drive condition. the only time ive seen a convertor stall the motor, was on a c-6 where the installer put in a small high stall and had put the input shaft in backwards and the shaft bottomed out on the cover. time to go further and pull the tranny apart. iam sure on this site there are good pictures on what to do and look for during you build. and of course plenty of help when needed. good luck. no accually its take your time and have a good book!