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Waiting for the gauges to come in tomorrow (local harbor freight was out of them) so i'll put off completing the converter until tomorrow.

Got a dial indicator and stand so i can make a better measurement of the shaft thrust play. I had been putting getting one of those off, luckily the cams, etc i had installed weren't over spec.

No luck on finding the marks i made on the converter housing...must've cleaned them off. Can the whole assembly be balanced again and where would i look to have that done? Again i have a 50/50 chance of getting it right with the marks stained on the back side.

thanks again for all the help!

Found out from the tranny shop today that the clutch discs inside the tranny were toast (i had dropped of a new set just in case) and that the bands were about done too (about to send those to kanter)

The clearance on the bushings that are in the blind converter hole that the input shaft from the tranny rides on are .009, so i'll put that back together with the NOS clutch disc and set it aside.

Thanks again for everyone's input, hope to have this car back together in the near future driving running and shifting smooth!

Edit: Just saw that the clearance is supposed to be .003, not .03 -- guess i'll be changing those bushings after all.

Putting new bushings in an Ultramatic is required. It is one of the few trannys that use bushings to maintain the pressure required to properly operate the trans. I'm sure Ross could explain it better than me. Those tolerances are very close.
I experienced that first hand whenever we first rebuilt my 56 400 tranny back in 91.

Ross was saying not to replace a bushing if it was within spec (.003 i believe) or otherwise you're not gaining anything by replacing it. For a moment i thought the spec was within .030, so my .009 would have been fine. Once i found out the clearance was withing .003 and i was three times the clearance, i thought i'd go ahead and change it. I'll have to stop at harbor freight, they had a blind hole bushing removal kit. I'll measure how far down in the "hole" the two bushings are, then pull them, then push the new ones back down in to the same depth.

The tranny itself is getting new bushings at the tranny shop, i'm just talking about the two next to each other in the blind hole at the far "Front" of the converter, where the tranny input shaft end rides.

Just be sure to measure the old positions before removal. Without the special install tool, looks awfully easy to push the rear one in too far and block the fluid passage or the front one down partially into that cavity. Maybe no big deal but why take chances.

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If i could get a set of ultramatic tools, i'd snap them up in an instant. the bore gauges that were on ebay, whatever is needed to hook up the gauges in the car so you can drive and test, the bushing installers. I'd only use them once or twice, but i'd have a complete set to loan out to others and know that they're here if i need them.

Unfortunately they seem super rare :(

I'll make sure that a) the bushings are the same height and b) how deep in the hole they are before removing, then install them bottom one first and should be set to go. they both look to be the same bushing.

Bravo for doing the Ul-Traumatic by yourself, it's not rocket science. UM's are very sensitive to pressure loss and we include all the bushings in our kits which is NOT the transmission industry standard. We do this so restorers can "Do it once and do it right", if you know what I mean. No need to measure the bushings, you own them with the kit and they're simple to install.

When you said the drain holes in the converter were clogged I knew most or all of the friction linings were toast. Just like the 6 high range friction discs which were cork faced, the direct drive clutch was cork/rubber faced. The smooth shifting of the UM has nothing to do with the "softness" of the material, it is barely compressible. It is due to the well engineered valving, E Grand Blvd knew what they were doing.

We use modern "paper" friction materials on all UM clutches, bands and DD plates as this material is engineered for modern trans which operate at higher temperatures and higher horsepower. Your clutches "burned" due to hardening and loss of friction qualities, then the trans self destructs. The modern materials do not harden and have higher coefficients of friction.

Likewise the front, rear, throttle shaft and selector shaft seals are modern materials. I'd never use a NOS seal, in 50 years they often harden. Our gaskets are up to date and fresh stock.

MOST IMPORTANT IS TO USE THE FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL AND FOLLOW ALL TORQUE PROCEDURES AND SPECS. BE EXTRA CAREFUL WHEN ALIGNING THE CONVERTER TO THE FLYWHEEL AND TIGHTENING THE 4 NUTS. TIGHTEN GRADUALLY GOING AROUND AND AROUND UNTIL SPECS ARE MET OR FOLLOW THE MANUAL, I FORGET WHAT IT TELLS YOU. A MISALIGNED CONVERTER WILL EAT UP THE FRONT BUSHING AND FRONT SEAL.

HAPPY, SMOOTH MOTORING

Fred Kanter
Kanter Auto Products
Boonton NJ

PS Putting a NOS DD clutch in is fine, it will outlast you and your children most likely

I totally agree, if you've got new bushings and the shaft surfaces they ride on are in good condition replace the bearings, it's cheap insurance against future problems.

The Packard Ultramatic is a simple transmission that once understood properly and driven properly will give you years of daily driver quality dependable service. Drive it like a hot rod and it's life is seriously shortened.

Like I've said before, you have to put yourself into the mindset of the typical '50s Packard owner, it wasn't "pedal to the metal", it was "Onward Jeeves, but don't spill my Cognac!"

BE EXTRA CAREFUL WHEN ALIGNING THE CONVERTER TO THE FLYWHEEL AND TIGHTENING THE 4 NUTS

Yes. A practice recommended to me was to go a step further and actually check the run-out with a dial indicator.

cort,

have you seen my project blog.....it goes over this transmission in pretty good detail as i rebuilt mine. and the torque converter. it can be rebalanced....i have a shop that i go to that does them here and i will be sending mine in as soon as i have spare money laying around.

look for henrys 55 constellation in the project blog section and go back several pages, you will find all kinds of stuff on the TU trans.

oops, i just went to the first page and noticed you said 50 model....mines 55. ah well.

have fun, i know i did......well mostly LOL!

Hank