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Doesn't look like cork which would be the original plates. Wonder if the trans ever had a rebuild kit with the paper type friction materials. With the car moving and driving as well as it does, would think the high range clutches or any of the friction materials would be kinda low on the list but DD clutch not working-----. Are the chunks solid or paper like or just mushy. Almost looks like the kind of gel like stuff that can form when incompatible chemicals or moisture get together.

YUK! Looks like someone started making hot and sour soup. I tend to agree with HH, perhaps some kind of chemical incompatibility? Ross has seen a lot more of Ultramatic issues than I, it will be interesting to see what he has to say.

To me it looks like some kind of skin that formed on the top of ATF or was adhered to the side of the casing (scum line) that has now loosened up and drifted down. But I will let Ross tell me what he thinks as he is the in house expert on these matters.

"You would cry too if it happened to you"

I go for the hot and sour soup idea. Actually, it looks as though the cooler has been letting water into the fluid at some time and some amazing chemical transformation has made tofu. The friction material usually comes off as flakes, or more usually as very fine sludge over time. There is no friction material that looks like THAT .

Am somewhat amazed that you have had as much success driving this transmission as you have.

Well relieved to hear that it is not the clutches coming apart. I will refill with clean fluid and a little Lucas as you suggested, and just run her for now.

I will keep an eye on both the ATF fluid and the Radiator coolant to make sure no more tofu is being created.

Put the transmission pan back on, and reinstalled lower bellhousing. Refilled with clean Type F, and some Lucas snake oil.

After running and topping off the tranny I let the engine run for awhile as it hasnt in a little bit.

Also started to put the stuff back on the rear of the car as I will not get back to sanding on that area for awhile. Still need to primer the rear bumper filler panel, and then I can reinstall the rear bumper, and also the license plate.

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It looks like there are even some drops of moisture floating on the "mixture." As I recall, you've been through the trans cooler, but might be worth a check. Even the color of the fluid has a "mixed with coolant" look.

A question as well: I'm curious about your re-installing body hardware prior to painting. Are you planning to drive the car in primer for a while?

Yes, I plan on driving the car while in primer. Time and money ya know. This primer is to ward off any more rust and decay for the time being. I plan on working on the body issues one spot at a time until all the dents are removed and all the rust issues are fixed, spot priming as I go. Then it will get another full coat of primer, and the blocking will begin. Also I still have some mechanical issues to shake out. on the short list is serving the driveline joints, and locking down a wayward tappet adjuster that wont stay adjusted.

Also on the inside I have floors to replace, panels to seal in paint, and insulation to apply.

The trunk lid has no body work left on it except for blocking, and I need the taillights on, and the rear bumper on to drive it around here. If I was out in the country somewhere I wouldn't worry about it, but here in the city, the cops love to write tickets for stuff like that.

On the transcooler issue, I believe the old cooler was leaking, and this was left over from that. I replaced the cooler with a NOS one form an ambulance. I still have the old cooler laying around, so I may pressure check it to validate that.

Doing some double duty today running back and forth between the garage and meat smoker in the back yard.

Day started with putting 2 rack of ribs and baking potatoes in the smoker so they would be ready for dinner. Wood for the day is apple wood. With the smoker well....ummm smoking... it was off to the garage.

First order of business was clean up. I had tools and other items scattered from working on the tranny. So all the tools got wiped down and put back where they went.

The it was on to prepping the rear bumper filler panels for paint. I had done an initial stripping a few months ago of these parts with a stripping wheel. But it because of the shape, I need some smaller to get into the nooks. So I used a 2 1/2" twist-loc sanding discs on a right angle die-grinder to get all the rest of the paint and rust off. Then they were heavily sprayed in metal ready (acid) to kill all the pit rust. Once the metal ready did it's magic, then they were hosed off, dryed, and roughed up with a sanding block, and finally a wipe down with thinner to remove anything left behind.

They I mixed up a small batch of DTM primer and gave them two wet coats. Also I put another coat of primer on the wheel skirts as they got missed last time.

Between doing all this there were also several trips to back yard to tend to the smoker. I will let the primer cure for several hours, and then the panels will go back on the car, followed by the rear bumper.

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