Re: Manual versus Automatic (ULTRAmatic), post-war

Posted by HH56 On 2015/6/24 20:48:09

The original Ultra changed gears only by the manual lever and had very minimal if any kind of timing between band release for low and high range clutch apply. If it happened you did not get speed and action of the lever just right the low band was still releasing while the high range was applying so it would bog down or if you were a little slow on the lever and the band released before the high range clutch applied the engine would run away and cause the high range clutch plates to spin and heat. In 54 they issued a kit to kind of address the problem but while it helped, it did not solve all the issues. The coordinated automatic shifting did not occur until the gear start in late 54.