My 1971 Chevy Wrecker

[fp1967]

From the looks of your pic, it looks like it is third gear to me, not that it really matters which gear it is stuck in. After the shifter was off, did you take a screw driver and try to shift the shift rails to get each one in neutral? If not, I would try that and see if that works for you. It's been about 25 years since I've had a top cover off of one of these trannys, I'm pretty sure it has to be in reverse to get the cover off. With the gear that is in now, I don't think that the cover will come off.