Re: Ultramatic Clutch Disc and Linkage questions

Posted by Mike On 2010/11/1 16:19:49

Seems i will have to send it out to be relined, as Kanter doesn't have any 11 3/4 discs in stock to exchange with, which will take a couple weeks...which means i'll likely forget exactly how things go back together in the converter :-/

Also happened to be down chatting with our local transmission guy today about a 700r4 for my father in law's 57 truck. While there i was talking to him about the ultramatic (which i had the impression that he had done one or two a long time ago) and he gave me about 100 pointers on rebuilding it (watch out for this spring, it always falls when you try to get the shaft in, if you're using old plates sometimes you have to scuff them, those are balanced converters, make sure you mark the front and back halves when you remove them [i did] etc etc).

I asked him how much it would take in labor if i got the full rebuild kit for him (he said bushings too! most rebuild kits don't have bushings!) and he sad about $300 if i was bringing the transmission in and not in the car and i said deal! I'll put the converter back together with the new disc when it comes in and check the end play one more time, then set it aside when for when the tranny is done.

I know a lot of local tranny shops don't know much about ultramatics and others have had run into trouble, but he already knew the details of what was going on inside the converter before i told him any of the setbacks i had, and already knew what trouble i was going to run into inside the ultramatic itself. That to me means he already has it down mostly pat in his mind and won't be confused when he gets in there.

He should do a better job than me anyway considering he has transmission experience and i have none. He of course brought up that the TV linkage had to be right, etc. etc. so i felt better knowing he had experience with this kind of tranny before.

I thought that price was a steal, and told him that if he didn't mind i'd post about my experience when it's done and his give out his info via pm here if people wanted it. I asked why he doesn't let he known that he'll work on these trannys (especially being about 30 minutes from the National Museum in Warren, handful of Packards around here) and he said because most older car enthusiasts are sitting there with cash in hand and want the job done right now, asap, with tons of updates and details, and he just doesn't work that way. He said it would take a few weeks and i said fine, that i'd be doing motor work anyways. So i guess if you're on a budget and can wait till its done without being to anxious, he seems to be a good guy to hand our tranny's to up here in NE Ohio. I'll keep my updates posted here and see if things turn out good or bad.


Also, i do see that the linkage did connect to a bell crank on the transmission and then i THINK there was one that connected opposite this one and went to the back of the tranny somewhere? I'll have to get out there and go through parts and look again.

Again, if someone will give me some basic measurements, i'm sure i can make one.

Thanks all for the help and i'll keep updating!