Ultramatic Question

Posted by JD in KC On 2014/8/1 14:42:58

Ok, long story short...
Last year I replaced the pan gasket and a seal on the transmission case of my Ultramatic. Because I replaced the seal I had to re-adjust the internal linkage to the shift lever. I followed the manual assuming I have an early [1949] Ultramatic. The manual said the valve body was supposed to stick out 3/4". I couldn't get it out that far so I adjusted it as far out as it would go. The new seal and gasket stopped all leaking from the area behind the torque converter. Shortly after arriving at a local car show, I attempted to back the car up and it bucked like a bronco. This was not a problem before I messed with the selector adjustment so I figured that's a likely candidate as the source of the bucking problem. For the remainder of the Kansas City car season, I just avoided backing up... always fun.

I went back to the manual and Service Counselors and found that there was a change in adjustment from 3/4" to 5/16". This change was announced in a bulletin dated February 9, 1950. But... this was after my car was built.

I crawled back under the old girl this morning to get the transmission serial number to see if I can figure out what's going on.

Crap! The serial number of my transmission is 217124. I think that number indicates that the transmission is out of an Eight [10 plate vs 12 plate] and not meant for a Custom. The latest serial number I can find is 172205 and was used in a bulletin dated Feb 16, 1951. That would mean that if the serial numbers are strictly sequential, the transmission is probably out of a mid-'51 or early-'52 Eight.

I'm going to open up the transmission again to re-adjust back to 5/16" but I was just wondering if anyone here knows just what this transmission came from (and should I worry that it's sitting behind a 356)?

Thanks