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Hi guys

How do you remove the selector shaft seal. On a 1954 ultramatic

Thanks

Erik,
I just replaced the one in my '53 Clipper around the first of the year. The frame in your '54 may have about a 3/8" hole through it that alomost lines up directly with the selector shaft. After you remove the selector shaft lever, you can take a long sharp pointed punch and using the hole to access the seal, make a small hole in the face of the seal to insert a sheet metal screw. Make sure you center the hole in the face or you might scar the shaft if the screw threads contact the shaft itself. it's tight working quarters but you can use the same hole that you used for the punch for a screwdriver to install the screw. You dont need to screw it in too deep, the seal is only about a 1/4" deep and you dont want to bottom it out in the transmission case. After you get the screw in, use something like some needle nose vice grips to clamp on the screw, then wedge something like a thin piece of cardboard or wood shim under the vice grips and pry the seal out. The old seal comes out easy enough however to install the new seal is a bit more tricky as you will need to fabricate a tool that will fit over the selector shaft and contact the face of the new seal, then you will need to use something like a flat bar with a bend in it to pry against the frame of the car to "press" the new seal back in. you may need to cut a small block of wood or two to insert btween the frame and the bar to pry against. Any questions just ask, it's not a bad job to do, just a very confined space to work in, requires patience and a little fabricating ingenuity...just be safe and make sure to use jack stands and wheel chocks.

thanks gator! I never knew of that hole in the frame. I was going to lower the tail shaft. You saved me a lot of work.

Great tip thanks

The old seal comes out easy enough however to install the new seal is a bit more tricky as you will need to fabricate a tool that will fit over the selector shaft and contact the face of the new seal, then you will need to use something like a flat bar with a bend in it to pry against the frame of the car to "press" the new seal back in.

If the hole is there and lines up, this is what was recommended on the twin Ultra. 55 seal was the same as earlier and I think shaft is close to same length so might work on yours. Use an extension to get extra length thru the hole.

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Erik,
Lowering the tail shaft will not provide any additional clearance, it contacts the "X" crossing in the frame before it can drop down low enough to do any good.

HH,
Unfortunately the hole through the frame is slightly offset from being in direct alignment with the selector shaft thus making it difficult to insert a seal using a hammer and socket. I found that for the "in vehicle" replacement, the prybar method was quite effective and easier to control making it less likely to bugger up the seal. if the hole could be enlarged then hammering one in could be done more easily but still not a lot of room to swing a hammer.