Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Couldn't be happier with my Ross Miller Twin Ultramatic rebuild, a pure delight to drive under any conditions.

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Unfortunately there is only one of him and lots of miles between his shop and those who might need his services. Kind of hard to get an Ultra rebuild done long distance.

There used to be a couple of shops out this way you could feel comfortable with recommending but I'm not sure there is anyone on the west coast I could send someone to with confidence anymore.

On the west coast, Custom Auto is considered very knowledgeable and competent with Twin Ultramatics, though I have no personal experience with them. Bob Aller (RIP) in St. Louis was also recognized far and wide for his Twin Ultramatic rebuilds.

When Ross did mine, he insisted on having the transmission, complete along with the rest of the car; I could have driven it there and holed up for the 2 days the job might have taken but I chose to have the car transported to his shop which added to my cost, but given the results, worth every $.

I remember Custom Auto. I know they are still in business but don't know if Cal Soest who used to do the Ultra rebuilds is still doing them.

my pennys worth,,, two things that i think would beef it up without changing other bushings, would be to put torque convert. and parking shaft on needle bearings,

if someone with play money, would make those shafts hard for a needle bearing, then it would be just a change out, instead of machining shafts,,,etc......

if i had the money, i would redesign that trans for neeedle or ball bearing. have everything as a change out..

hh, i think C A put the ultra in leno's carib.

Riki, Not sure any longevity is to be gained by replacing bushings will needle bearings; by the time the bushings need attention the soft friction discs/clutch plate will be in need of replacement as well, if not sooner. I'll be interesting in how your Ultramatic with needle bearings functions. In those places in the Ultramatic where the clearance between shafts and bushings controls fluid flow and pressures, how have you compensated for the fact that needle bearings will totally change the fluid flow characteristics?

dave for the bell housing, using 2 oil holes, the oil hole for needle bearing, is 1/8 inch, and only one hole, a lot smaller than the bushing hole (s),, so that should hold it up. but we will see, they look like cup bearings, needles are close together.

the parking gear shaft is the same..of coarse i made my own bearing support, Packards is so light weight... i could of used a larger bearing there, since i made a new support, but ,, next time,

another point, my dad used to say put a pump inline, outside trans.

well , why not get rid of the ft and rear pumps, and use an outside pump?...mod. the inside of trans to support shafts,

lots of high output pumps on the market.....

You are joking of course? I don't know what the power requirements for the pumps are, maybe 3 hp for the front one? To me as wacky an idea as I've ever heard. Finding a pair of suitable pumps and some perhaps a pair of 3 (or 5?) hp 12-volt motors and you could fit them neatly where the back seat once was. A couple of yards of tasteful hydraulic tubing - all seems like a terrific improvement to something that was well engineered and needed no improvement. Sorry to sound sarcastic, but I just don't get it.