I may just being an idiot but I beat on the flange of the cover with a hammer and screwdriver and it will not budge. I started to get a little chewed up in the process. I'm attempting this while it is on the car. Any suggestions? I need some help because I need to get this thing off and possibly fix the tranny ASAP.

thanks for the help

 

The method you are using should work if you are driving it off from the rear. You might try buying another one from a tranny
shop in case you ruin the old one.

 

prybar