FINALLY!!! Got the stupid tranny out! As promised, here's some pics of the final solution. As I was certain that the pilot bearing was stuck on the input shaft, the only logical next step meant to get the pressure plate & clutch disc off the flywheel to make some room to pull the tranny back.
I've got another tranny lined up to install, and as there was no other way of accessing the pressure plate bolts, I got down to business and made an access hole of my own:
At least now I could get the pressure plate and clutch disc to slide back enough to create room to pull the tranny free, and what do ya know, my theory was right:
Stupid pilot bearing! Argh!
For fun, I wanted to see how badly this thing was siezed to the shaft. It took my large puller to pull the stupid thing off, and it fought me all the way to the end:
Good grief! I've never heard of this happening before, but as they say, there's a first time for everything. Let's hope it's the last.