The '54 Ford has the same car frame as the '55 and '56, but the body of the '54 is different which may mean clearances for removal might be different, but under NO circumstances would it ever be necessary to cut up a car frame to remove a transmission.
There's more than one way to skin a cat, but this is the way I've always done it on '55 & '56's:
Unhook the starter and remove it completely.
Unscrew the filler/dipstick and drain ATF. Remove dipstick tube & bracket.
Disconnect transmission passing gear link and gear select link at the trans levers and tape them out of the way so they don't get accidentally bent during trans case removal.
Pull the speedo cable and gear out of trans rear extension housing.
Remove (4) bolts holding driveshaft rear U-joint to the yoke and pull driveshaft out.
The trans is now ready to begin removal process.
Get a floor-jack with a scrap of 1/2" plywood to roll under the trans pan
Remove the 4 bolts that hold the trans case to the bellhousing. Do not remove bellhousing bolts yet.
Remove the (6) bolts (3 on each side) of the removable frame crossmember under the trans. Remove the (2) bolts that hold the U-bracket to the crossmember, then remove crossmember completely.
Lift the floor jack arm and put a little tension on it, then pull the trans case/rear housing sub-assembly out of the bellhousing. Pull it back on the rolling floor jack so that the front pump shaft clears the bellhousing just a little bit.
The next part is tricky. You will need to lower (SLOWLY) the floor jack while pushing the floor jack forward so that the front pump shaft has continued clearance from the bellhousing. Keep lowering and pushing the jack forward until the pump shaft is BELOW the bottom of the bellhousing. At this point, the trans will be tilted downward at the front quite a bit, so you may need to adjust the focal point of the floor jack arm with respect to it's position on the bottom of the pan. Be careful.
Once you are clear of the bellhousing, grab the rear extension housing while pushing the floor jack and trans forward until the rear extension clears the last little frame crossover. Then level off and lower your floor jack and roll the trans out from under the car.
Next, Remove the bolts that hold the front inspection plate (half-moon shaped) and remove it. You may also want to remove the (4) bolts that hold the intake air duct to the bellhousing, then remove it and the chicken wire screen to avoid damage to them during removal. Remove the bellhousing-to-engine block bolts. It may be necessary to remove your interior floor covering to access the top bolts. Pop out the floor plugs to see the bolts. Then you can pull the bellhousing out from under the car.
Now, drain the ATF from the converter to lighten it up a bit. Then begin removing all the bolts holding the air-cooled converter to the flex-plate. There should be two tabs on the flex-plate @ 180 degrees apart with (3) bolts each for a total of (6) bolts and nuts to remove the converter. It will be necessary to turn the engine crankshaft to get to some of the bolts.
Now, with the converter out of the way, you can access the (5) bolts that hold the flex-plate to the crankshaft.
Ta da
