On installation of the steering column, I found what may be the reason for the spacer being located below the spring housing. The screws that hold the neutral safety and backup light switch hit the spring housing as it is a larger diameter than the spacer. I opted to shorten the screws a little rather than completely disassemble the column to change the location of the spacer.

Thanks Ross, that worked very nicely.

I'm trying to remove the universal joint flange from the rear housing of a 55 Ultramatic in order to replace the seal and bearing. The problem is the removal of the flange retainer. It doesn't just come off. I have tried an expanding fastener inserted in the retainer, expanded and then pulled on and inserting a rod down the output shaft against the retainer to try and push the retainer. Neither has been successful. Any suggestions would appreciated.

PPG has all the formulations, but you have to get them from the PPG Color Library. Their number is (800) 647-6050. They have all the colors that do not show up in the dealers standard listings. PPG will only release the actual formula to an authorized dealer, so the dealer will have to call them. I have found that dealers seem to be reluctant to make that call.

> The servos are both power on and power off so the band has only to spring away from the surface of the drum.

I just want to make sure that they spring away well and a good distance. The distance should be determined by the band setting as defined by the service manual while the spring is determined by the band.

> If you feel they don't have enough preload, hold one end in a vise and spring the band open a bit.

If the band acts as a spring, I shouldn't be able to bend it easily. If it is easily bent, I would expect that the decrease in gap would be a sign of wear.

> Bands are among the least of your worries concerning Ultramatic longevity. All of the various clutches have ample holding capacity----if they receive their design pressure. Now that is the Achilles heal and deserves your full attention, not the bands.

I am planning to add pressure sensors to all of the outside measurement points so that I can check and track the pressures.

Thanks.

Howard, thanks for the Studebaker instructions.

I took the steering column apart. It was not an easy task as there was a lot of old hardened grease. I ended up trying to dissolve the old grease and pounding on the inner tube. It certainly did not just "pull" as listed in the Studebaker instructions. Here is a picture of the shaft spring, retainer, and housing with the old grease. It would appear that this did not get properly lubricated. My other '56 has grease all over and the shift lever moves with no problem.

It is interesting to see that the Packard parts diagrams show the spacer above the shaft spring housing and the Studebaker diagram shows it below. On both of my '56s the spacer was installed below the shaft spring housing. I have decided to reassemble the column with the spacer bafore the spring, as shown in the parts book. While moving the shift lever wil now require a little more force to also move the spacer, the spacer will apply more even force on the spring. I also expect less grease to get in the spring housing. The second picture shows the reassembled column.

After this project, I would suggest that everyone make sure that they grease that lower shifter lever.

Thanks for all the help, suggestions, and information.

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> When in use the bands are almost closed.

As noted, the band closed around the ring gear yields a gap of 0.33 which is pretty far from closed. In order to reach 0, the friction material would have to compress 0.05 and with that being the approximate average thickness of the lining, I wouldn't expect it.

> There is and never has been an issue with spring rate etc.

Then please tell me what the factory rating is so that I can do the comparison.

> The steel texture on the back is as important as the texture on the side web of a brake shoe, that is, nothing.

So you are saying that the same material and manufacturing process yielded different results and gap variances of 0.290, 0.435, and 0.725, and closing force and unclamping force variances of up to 500% and that met the quality standards.

All of the bands are the same width, 1.75.
I do not see any indication of extreme heating. See the picture of the back side of the bands (still in the same order)
In the second picture you can see that there is a noticible difference between the two sets of bands. The original bands have a very smooth surface while the relined bands have a rough surface. There was a differnece in production and possibly material.

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I purchased relined brake bands as part of my Ultramatic rebuild. When I installed the reverse band, I noticed that it was easier then the removal of the old one. I then did the following comparison of the original and replacement bands. The picture shows all of the bands with the left sides aligned to show the variance on opening gaps. The relined bands are the top two.

The gaps, in inches, measure, from top to bottom band: 0.575, 0.865, 1.310, 1.329.
The force, in pounds, to reduce the gap to 0: 6, 9, 15, 15
When closed around the ring gear, the gap is 0.33
The force to close around the ring gear is 2, 5, 10, 10
The unbound (not held by the operating lever and the adjusting screw) clearance between the band and the ring gear is: 0.040, 0.085, 0.155, 0.155
I haven't measured the bound clearance when adjusted per the service manual because it requires everything to be assembled.

I would think that you would want as much spring to the band as possible as that is the only thing that retracts the band. If the band does not retract you would have drag and wear. With the pressure test range for the low brake of 75-100 pounds and the mechanical advantage of the lever arm it easily overcomes the spring force of the band.

I have found no mention of the correct brake band spring rate, spring force, clearance or unbound gap to know what is appropriate.

Does anyone have any information on this?

Thanks.

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Here is an update.

I removed the steering wheel and turn signal flange to look at the selector lever. The selector lever looks fine, however the gear position detents on the bottom of the turn signal flange have been worn down about an eighth of an inch. I guess there has been a problem with the selector lever for a long time. Attached is a picture of the detent wear.

There is a tab attached to the inner tube which the selector lever goes into. There is only a small amount of wear in it. It must be stronger then the detents.

I removed the steering column and the gear selector flange. Based on the parts diagram it looks like there is a tab attached to the inner tube which engages with the lower gear selector arm. In order to be able to remove the inner tube with all the attached tabs it seems that it should be removed from the top. There is a support and positioning piece for the inner tube at the bottom of the outer column which none of the tabs can pass through.

Thus far I haven't been able to get the inner tube to move.

Has anyone taken one of these columns apart and can provide ideas and suggestions?

Thanks.

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