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Replacing front shocks tonight. A nice easy job. I'm using the shocks that Dwight recommended: KYB 343127 for the front, and KYB 343149 for the rear.

Shocks I removed were not original, and stamped with "heavy duty" on them. The lower bushing was almost completely missing on both, leading to lots of play and metal on metal contact.



I can't say I love the lower mount on these shocks. It's a little too small for the space, and has me worried that it won't hold. Has anyone else used these shocks? Is it the same way on your car? I'm wondering if maybe KYB changed the dimensions of the lower mount at some point.

Perhaps some extra thick fender washers would give some peace of mind?

That does look a bit weak. I don't know if the cross bars and bushings are changeable for longer or where you would get them if they are but if not, adding some heavy fender washers and longer bolts if needed would increase surface area and be a lot better than what is there now. Amazon has some for fast deliverya.co/d/1WeOBIh and maybe one also placed above the bracket would provide added support.

I don't know specifics on the Ultramatic. Whine is caused from air. You hear air, you can't hear fluid. A couple thoughts.
If there is an o-ring on the filter neck. It could be shrunken and allowing air to get sucked in. Colder fluid is thicker and harder for the pump to draw in. When the trans warms up a little, the O-ring becomes pliable and makes a better seal.
Low fluid could cause suction of air. As fluid warms, it expands thus raising the fluid level and covering the suction.
Restricted filter especially when drawing in cold thicker fluid. Fluid warms and becomes thinner, moves more easily.
Torque convertor drains back overnight and it takes a while to purge trapped air.
Some fluid is susceptible to aeration when cold, anti-foaming properties work better when warm.

After the other drivability issues are straightened out, it might be a good idea to pull the pan and see what things look like.

Did you know Aamco stands for All Automatics Must Come Out.

Mark

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Good one but the late Anthony A. Martino was probably more than annoyed knowing his former company (which was named using his initials) gained that reputation. I don't know how it is now but used to be that for every honest AAMCO shop you would find another who was less than respectable. Tales of removing the transmission for a full rebuild even if just adding fluid was all that was needed was heard all too often. I knew a couple of Packard owners who learned that fact the hard way back in the 70 or 80's when AAMCO would still "work" on an Ultramatic.

Incidentally, after Martino sold his interest in AAMCO he went on to found MAACO.

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There's not. See cross section view below. Fun fact, the holes in the strainer are purposely not parallel to the strainer itself, instead being parallel to the pickup tubes. It's also easy to see that the gap is pretty small (3/32") so any sludge can quickly impede operation. Note that this drawing assumes a pan gasket thickness of about 5/64".

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This is the most plausible option. The pump valve (gallery pressure regulation and pump selection valve) on the Twin Ultramatics (and Ultramatics) is specifically designed to arrest the flow to the converter when the gallery pressure drops below a certain critical level, so that the valve logic (and bands/clutches) will still work, with only efficient cooling or filling of the converter being sacrificed. That being said, I can't think of an obvious reason why this would happen aside from something like sludge in the pan. The front pump tends to last well into the 100k or even 200k mile range, especially on a 56 after it was redesigned from the 55 whose driving teeth could fail.

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Ross has a few stories about the workmanship on those. Supposedly one way to tell is they would paint the whole unit gray. AAMCO could replace the bushings, clutches, seals, and gaskets; but there was no chance the tech would actually understand the intended operation of the unit, or attempt to source good used replacement parts for the unusual failure. So many had bizarre work done in attempts to fix maladies.

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As you mentioned not every Aamco was shady. They had a really good training program for all positions. I've worked with several people that have worked at an Aamco in their careers and heard plenty of stories good and bad. I'm sure you know that saying is not something I came up with, just everyone that has worked there says it.

Mark

I threw some thick fender washers on, I think they will work. I'm going to wait to install the other side until I get new nuts and bolts. The original ones are barely long enough with the washers in there. But I will say this front corner feels so much better now. Smooth and quiet. The old shock I took out had no more lower bushing, and zero rebound. Compressing the shock outside the car made it stay compressed and would not return to normal.

Also sanded down the emblem I filled and primed, then shot another coat of gold. Definitely better than the pits that we're there but not perfect. I'm curious to see how it looks when clear coated.



Forney paint marker works great. But I will need to practice to perfect the technique. Not as smooth with the lines as I'd like to be yet.

What's the easiest way to remove the rear upper shock nuts? Hardly any space up there. Almost considering cutting two small holes in the trunk, but I don't want to mess up the original interior, or cause damage where it's not necessary.

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I had the same issue. I changed to the KYB 344066. The difference is the lower mount dimensions. They both use the E3 lower mount.

E3 = Eyering with slotted barpin The (xxx) after E3 is the barpin slot dimensions & rotation. Example: (48 x 80 x 0) = 48mm from slot ID to slot ID, 80mm barpin OD, with 0 degrees rotation. (means barpin is perpendicular to shock body)




The KYB 343127 E3 dimensions are 46.1x82x0
The KYB 344066 E3 dimensions are 61.6x87x0

The extra barpin length makes a much better fit.

Get some 1/8 × 3/4 flat cold roll

Weld a piece on top of one. Drill a hole for bolt.

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That's why I use a different shock .. longer bar.

It's in my blog.