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The overdrive is much easier to assemble than i recalled with all the difficulty getting apart! This one, being the pre-1951 type, is probably even easier as it does not have the odd snap ring accessed through a windows on the housing to have to deal with.

One little problem which has been resolved was with the over-running clutch assembly. When cleaning it up, I noticed that it was missing one of the tangs and the one from the other transmission had the same hard black stuff all over it that the rest of its parts had. Long story short, I took it apart, cleaned the outer race, and reassembled it with my original cam device inside.

I have not been able to get the overdrive housing’s main seal of lockout shaft seals out. On the rear seal, I tried a slide-hammer puller but its tips are a bit too big to get under the seal’s lower flange so I’ll have to look for another solution.

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I didn’t do any work on the transmission yesterday as I had to get all the 1956 Clipper door panels packed up to ship to SMS but also the rear seal was stuck. Since I had to go into town anyway to get the wheels powder coated for my 1965 Cadillac (after having two tires demounted), I brought the housing along to Napa. The one in the nearest town does not have a machine shop and I didn’t feel like going 30 miles to the one that does so they kindly recommended an engine rebuilder right up the street from them. The fellow didn’t even want to charge me but after he struggled with it for a half hour, I gave him money anyway!

With things looking good for a quick installation of the rear housing, I got to work installing the cutout lever seal and the lever itself but when I went to put in the new rear seal, it was far too small both outside and inside! Unless it was mismarked, it was the proper one according to the parts book but clearly it wasn’t so back to Napa tomorrow to see if they can match it! In case anyone reading this has a modern part number or book to look it up, it’s about 2.837 OD X 1.876 ID.

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I struggled with a rear transmission oil seal on a 39 Cadillac 60 Special many years ago. It was a mess when I finally got it out, something like yours. Mine was done with in situ.

I can’t imagine doing this one on the car! So apparently the Packard Parts book is wrong. I was sent the seal that is listed for the XX13 models on 1951-1954 but it should have been the one for the 1950 R11 which is what Henney seniors used. No luck at Napa or at another local parts store so I guess it won’t go back together this time as I had hoped.

This afternoon I wrote a note to Mike at Max Merritt about the rear seal but no reply yet. In the meantime, there were still some things to do on the top cover as I had badly dinged one of the shafts in trying to remove the seal so I took the shaft out of the other cover which was my original.

I used the cover from the parts transmission instead because its shaft fork pads were in better condition but shift arms were sloppy on the splines and the holes for the shift rods were worn to a large diameter.

The arms on this one that I am trying to use wouldn’t budge off of the other so I ended up removing the arm and shaft together, then pressing it out of the arm but not sure how to remove the other shaft. The manual shows driving out the pins but they are at an angle where it’s impossible to get in a drift pin!

This is showing the shaft being removed and if you look closely you can see the unfortunate ding at the edge.

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Don, have you tried George Olcar for a seal? He specializes in bearings and seals for vintage vehicles. He is in Carmel, Indiana and has advertised in Hemmings and other magazines.

That seal is reproduced....should not be a problem

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Thank you both. Actually finding the seal wasn’t the problem. Getting it here to very rural Central Oregon before I leave next week was the problem! Gerry has one that he is “next-daying” to me so if that goes well, I should have it by Tuesday. Next Day here, though, seems to have a different meaning as the rural location sometimes adds days to a delivery.

All this because the parts book was wrong! I can’t speak for BigKev on the Factory Parts List here on this site but I am going to correct it on my own version on the Packard / IMPERIAL page linked below by removing the wrong one from the 1951-1954 XX13 entries and adding them to the 1950 R11 section for the proper part number..

The proper rear seal is being Next-Dayed from San Diego so we’ll see if it gets here in time to at least get the transmission buttoned up. I wish there were better details on the assembly of the 1950-type that this car has but it is far simpler than the 1951-1954 type. I do have the exposed view which helps. Were there no 1948-1950 Service manuals?

In the meantime, I am gathering the external components and have a solenoid somewhere (maybe two) but haven’t located it/them so far after all the remaining disruption from the shop insulation job. I did find this governor, though, but can’t tell if it’s the correct one for a 2413 with 4.7 rear end. Anyone know? The number on it is BK322097 and has two wires, both of which need to be replaced. What colors should they be?

I’m also still looking for the proper speedometer drive gear.

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Can't help on the part number but according to parts book the governors were the same depending on if an R9 or R11 OD with a third listed for all 51 and later models. I suspect like the speedo's, only the pinion changed for a different ratio but that is somewhat confusing in the parts book too as they only list one pinion available for passenger cars with OD again depending on if it was an R9 or R11 or 51 and later. Maybe Henney had something different as it is possible they recalibrated a stock governor to switch at a different RPM compatible with their ratio.

The wire colors for a 50 two wire governor is Green/Yellow for EC and Yellow for OD. If you have no EC that wire is unused and coiled up out of harms way. 51 and later passenger car governors just had one wire because there was no longer an EC option.

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