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No it’s probably not called that, but is that Essentially what it is?

This morning I drove two or three hours over Mount Hood to a mobile home park in Central Oregon and looked at a engine and ultra Matic transmission a 288 out of a 1951 four-door packard and I saw something on it that I didn’t recognize the ultramatic from my transmission. The back of mines looks different and I think what this is is a overdrive adapter yes?

He only wants 500 for the whole engine transmission and rear axle. I’m thinking just for some of the parts I might need to buy it but will I be able to take that adapter if it is a overdrive that I want and put it on my other ultra Mattick because what he told me is that it shifts hard second gear seems like it’s Jeff’s hard to him and I guess I trust the one I got, even though I haven’t driven it yet more than his, so I would ideally think of moving that adapter onto my ultra Matic and changing the driveshaft. Another question is which axle do I use then the one from the packard without the overdrive which has a lot of master cylinder wheel cylinder brake line work already done to it or do I go with the one from the 1951 packard which the over drive is connected with.

First pictures are of the engine. I just saw this morning and the last picture is of mild traumatic back at home, as well as my tranny cooler, which looks different than the one on this 288.

Anyways, I think it’s probably a good deal for everything, I even saw he’s got one of this arched tranny mounts which somebody on here modified to make his 700r4 work.

Thanks
Blake

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That’s just the tail shaft extension. The rear of an overdrive transmission is entirely different. Ultramatics didn’t have overdrive anyway. As for the cooler and if you're talking about the one on the engine, it should be the same as it was basically unchanged for 1951-1954. I have several rebuilt ones available that show different manufacturer stampings but they are otherwise identical.

That's just the standard tail shaft extension from the 1951-54 ultramatic.

That might be a cooler for 1949-50. It doesn't look like the standard 1951-54.

Before you use a cooler, you should get it tested, they can leak internally and that's bad. Max Merrit and Kanter also have rebuilt/tested ones available.

The main thing about the rear axle is the ratio.

Look in the service manual on this website, it has all the rear axles and ratios. The main thing of course is (depending also on the tires used) is the revs/mile. The revs/mile for a 1951-54 Ultramatic is usually rather low (geared low) because as essentially a single-speed transmission, you needed a high rear axle ratio, e.g. 3.54:1 so you could get some reasonable acceleration. That said, there was some variation.

Thank you both for that clarification.

So maybe I won’t buy the whole thing now. Anyone want a 288 and ultramatic with rear axle too? He’s not budging from $300. It’s in Culver, OR, on Facebook marketplace

You both seem smart, please would you go over to the “modifications” forum and take a look at the posting I made for what I’m trying to do with this whole thing, putting a 23 series ultramatic into a 22 series frame and body setup for a manual.

I would really appreciate any wise thoughts on the subject. It’s basically the ultramatic mounts are further back and that is going to change the brake pedal pivot place.

Thanks again

Culver is just a very short distance from where I am currently at my shop and if you wanted a 327, I have a couple! According to Google Maps, I'm 25 minutes away.

Ha! Nice! You don’t say? I need a dip stick for a 327 and how do I use modern oil filters with this 327? I hear that the old “Toilet paper roll” doesn’t work really well

Funny you should ask about oil filters as I just came in after spending some time taking out an aftermarket one from the 1951 I’m working on so that I can put in the proper one. I don’t know about replacing it with a modern type but filter elements are available for the original canisters.

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As Don said, new filter elements are readily available for the stock canister type filters and as to the toilet paper conversions, back in the day those were quite a fad and actually supposed to be better than the stock types. No idea how true that might be but there were a bunch of them sold. Packard filters were all of the bypass type so only 10-12% of the pump output went thru the filter but eventually all the oil did get filtered.

Other than Craig, Eric, and KevinAz's mod of a 55 to a full flow modern spin on filter which they did when they developed the Olds pump conversion, I don't know if anyone else has tried changing the stock type filter out. The full flow conversion is involved on a V8 and don't know if possible on an inline 8. In keeping the bypass type, would wonder if something like this conversion kit could be adapted and bolted on in place of the stock canister. Obviously it would not look correct and would need some adapter fittings to get the 1/8 NPT ports with 1/4" tubing Packard used to connect to the adapter but maybe an option.

Another option might be to see if something like this could be found at a lower price and for American cars. Being as this one is for a RR engine it is probably metric, definitely expensive and no idea how well it would work in a US stock canister but if you wanted a modern filter element this type conversion would be another way.

There are several forums in the Chevy world where they mention various methods of getting rid of canister type filters in favor of modern spin ons. Didn't do a thorough read or see any detail info other than a couple of YouTube videos so no specific conversion kits or parts mention to link.

They have those conversion available for the Jag motors as well. I did this on the Jackard.

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That’s cool, BigKev, yes, I think I’m definitely wanting to get an adapter for modern spin-ons for my 327. I just don’t see why not, especially if I’m already planning on not staying purist with the modern tranny. I just have to make sure I find the right adapter.