Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Thank you, Kevin. Manual transmissions aren’t that difficult but I wouldn’t want to work on an Ultramatic as it would take so much research to figure out all the updates done over time and make sure that they are all done. In this case, it wasn’t a rebuild anyway as I didn’t replace any bearings but I did replace all the seals and, of course, it has new gaskets throughout.

On this kind of transmission, can anyone tell me if the top cover and shift arms should be painted? What else is left unpainted?

I’m back home now as of a little after midnight this morning but here’s a recap. The goal was to get the transmission assembled and installed but the incorrect rear seal slowed it down to just getting it assembled. Reading back a ways in this blog, you can see all the difficulties I had in getting the overdrive unit apart but putting it back together was quite easy and took only a few minutes.

For the individual rollers shown here, I used a wide rubber band to hold them in place for assembly and it worked well for that but it not only wasn’t tight enough to hold them in against their springs but also was too much rubber to leave in there to dissolve (as the manual says) so when actually assembling, I used a thin rubber band looped twice around it which did the job.

Then I placed the output shaft assembly over it, used some general purpose grease to hold the gasket in place against the adapter plate, then placed the housing over it all and loosely bolted it in place to be sure that the gasket was aligned properly before snugging it down and adding the output flange.

So again, should there be a seal/gasket under the governor and are the shift arms and top cover supposed to be painted?

Attach file:

---

  39686B6C-C767-4193-8568-4FF58DC4A592.jpeg (128.49 KB)


  F1806C54-FA0A-4184-A534-CE5B85B4BFF0.jpeg (137.63 KB)


  F68660A6-2E63-43E4-A05E-C4CB925A816F.jpeg (138.06 KB)

I'm trying to make sure I have the cotter pins, spring and flat washers needed to connect the shift linkages to the transmission without having to dig through boxes of unsorted parts but I am a bit confused by the parts book. What is the idler lever end? Is that at the column? If so, then why both 3/8" and 5/16"? 5/16" seems more like it for the transmission levers so isn't there just one spring washer and one flat washer on each or are there two flat washers on each with the spring washer in between?

WASHER 5/16, TRANSMISSI0N END
WASHER 5/16, IDLER LEVER END
SPRING WASHER 3/8, TRANS END
SPRING WASHER 3/8, IDLER LEVER ENDS
SPRING WASHER 5/16, TRANS END

No idea if the Henney idler is similar to the passenger car but if it is the idler is a separate bellcrank assy mounted to the frame below the steering column. The rod sizes in your list does not sound quite right but then it has been too long since I looked at a standard trans setup later than 47. If the rod sizes are actually similar to the 47 and the later Ultra rods, the 5/16 end would be on the adjustable rods connecting to the steering column levers and the 3/8 end would be on the rods going to the transmission.

This photo is from a 51 training manual and I suppose if you look just right there could be one rod of each size in both directions. Maybe they changed in 51 and the list is correct.

Attach file:

---

  idler.jpg (95.06 KB)

It seems like Packard went to a lot of trouble for their shift linkage design. Others used single rods from steering column arms to transmission arms. Those transmissions had - I believe - side cover plates and not top cover plates like Packard. Does anyone know why Packard used its unique design? Was it to keep from redesigning the transmission case to relocate the cover plate to the side? Thanks in advance.

Quote:

This is one of the few areas where they are the same although I never heard of a bellcrank being called an idler!

Quote:

Good point. Maybe back in the olden days they needed a catchall and easy to spell and remember "one fits all" name for any of the passive items that are present but mostly along for the ride. Packard has several other idlers, each of which does something important to help another part but do not do anything on their own so most of the time they are idle.

To the question of identifying the governor and its gear, Fred at Max Merritt sent me this based on my photo with notes clarifying which is which. As I had surmised, the one on the left is not Packard but it has a nice boot and single wire so I may use it with the proper gear! I can always swap it out later if it doesn’t work properly and/or when I find the NOS one I have somewhere. The Henneys used the 1950 R11 but with no need for the governor’s second wire which was for Electromatic Clutch

Fred’s notes are used here with his permission.

Attach file:

---

  194E1ACF-C335-4D74-9A67-F4D3698EDFDC.jpeg (232.77 KB)

Steele reproduces the boot. I have one in the packaging lying around here somewhere.

Thank you, Kev! I don’t recall ever seeing one on any of my Packards so never thought to look in the parts book.