Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

I understand the later '54s with Gear start had some of the issues of the later Twin Ultra... is it desirable to find an earlier '54 to avoid the problems or are the weaknesses of the GS fairly simple to deal with? At about what time did the switch to the GS occur during the model year? Maybe a thread on this here already? ... looked but didn't see one.

Anybody? No answers or opinions?

You won't be able to use any Ultramatic with your six as the pilot in the back of the crank is not big enough to accept the nose of the torque converter. You are stuck with stick.

Understood. No issue here with a 6/stick combo, was just contemplating a '54 w/ straight 8 in case it turns out to be impractical to do a 6cyl conversion in a 54/55, and was actually addressing the viability of the GS Ultramatic vs. earlier version.

Traditional Ultramatics behind the in-line 8s had probably as good a reliability as any of the other early automatics. You don't HAVE TO take advantage of the gear-start complication, I suspect driving in the conventional Ultramatic mode will minimize susceptibility to the gear-start concerns. On my Twin Ultramatic, I very rarely use the optional "3-speed" mode.

Very interesting point, I hadn't considered the possibility of using the GS in a way thats avoid any incipient issues, thanks.