Re: An Ultramatic experiment

Posted by 55PackardGuy On 2010/4/9 19:51:58

I agree, a pic would be nice, as long as it was offered.

This kind of work on the Twin Ultramatic sounds a lot like what my dad alluded to when he was modifying the Twin Ultramatic on his '55 400. His biggest gripe about shifting was that the shifts were not positive enough. "Too smooth" was the way he put it. There are wide differences in automotive company policy on how an automatic transmission ought to behave, from the "Power Slide" that was a standard GM trait to the much more aggressive "clunk" (both up and down the shift pattern) of the Torqueflites, at least from the 60's to today.

Some desired characteristics can be achieved with simple changes in fluid type, others respond only to mechanical tweaking. Vacuum modulating can enter into the mix, too. It's no wonder that electronics have become so popular. Pretty clean way to adjust an automatic trans... but definitely not a cure-all. Note how rotten some of the new "electronic" wonders shift.

Good topic. Interested to learn more. Especially adjustments for the shade tree mechanic.