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I had the Honor to be ask to rebuild the transmission for the 1956 Golden Hawk Ultramatic 56J on this rare 1 of 12 paint schemes.

The owners had a local transmission shop rebuild for 3k and got no warranty of work when they made their complaint of operation. You could not find any drive gears in the tree and the only way to go forward was to hit reverse and shift up and you would grab a lower range. In addition the car would not shift and had very low torque and was very dogy.

Upon getting the trany out, the throttle lever was way out of adjustment and did not have all detentes in the shift lever. no gaskets, slapped together with black silicone and stacks of multiple washers to make incorrect bolts fit. what a mess, I cant wait to get it apart and see what all they cobbled up on the internals.

I took a spare 56 ultramatic from a Patrician, and converted it over to a 56J. The customer was very, Very happy, to be able to go from Park to forward gears. In addition they stated that the car has Ten times the torque and power that the car has every had.

The car is now getting ready to head to St. Louis for Nationals. This was a privilege project.

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Amazing that shops who have no expertise will accept a job and then totally mess up something just to make a fast buck. Guess they must have figured anyone with an old car must be stupid or desperate and not likely to make a fuss. Not surprised there was no warranty with that kind of workmanship.

I don;t have a 56 Stude parts book handy but just out of curiosity wonder which torque converter they used in the Hawk -- the sedan version, the higher stall speed hardtop version or did the Hawk have something different.

Troy, congrats on the good work.

I get asked to rebuild TwinUltramatics, but as Clint says, "A man's got to know his limitations." PM me with your info and an outline of prices and timelines and I'll pass them along when I get a potential customer.

jack vines

Hi Troy

Good Work! And news of good work done on a timely basis and for a fair price gets around, good endorsements begin:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?89345-Michiana-Packard-Troy-Taylor

You are carrying on the tradition of the old-time Packard dealers did back in those years, great news for keeping these fine cars on the road for years to come! Hopes here you stay very busy and prosperous taking care of Packards for years to come!

Steve

Fantastic write up. The Bacon's are really great people who have been in the Studebaker world for over 40 years. Nancy's father I understand was an avid collector with a large stable at one time.

This car came from a Museum and was a total body off restore and has had two transmissions that did not function correctly. I am so Glad that we could help them out.

I can not wait to get the pulled transmission apart to see what was going on with the internals.

Nice work, Troy!
That's a fabulous looking '56J!

Heads up, everyone: a local collector who has three Packards* is looking for an Ultramafic for his '53 Clipper. PM me if you know where he might find one.

* '53 Clipper, solid, rust-free car in need of restoration - a labor of love as no restored '50s Clipper would return the investment.
'53 Caribbean in almost perfect condition
'55 Caribbean in excellent condition

See my blog post about these Packards here:
https://56packardman.wordpress.com/2015/06/29/gear-head-tuesday-what-is-in-mikes-garage/