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One of the things on my to do list is to rebuild my 53 Cavalier's Ultramatic. Currently the transmission only has a couple of issues. 1. Leaky, which is nothing out of the ordinary. 2. Sometimes when it's warm it feels like it momentarily loses flow when accelerating. If I let off a bit it's fine and doesn't do anything out of the ordinary after that when cruising along. It only occurs during acceleration after slowing down or stopping. I don't believe it is the direct drive slipping and the transmission fluid is clear, clean and no burnt smell. Currently running Penzoil Type F.

My car has 72,000 miles and my 53 Patrician parts car has 90,000 miles on it. I'm thinking of pulling the transmission from my parts car and rebuilding it over the winter and then doing a swap in the spring. All I know about my parts car is that is was apparently running and driving about 11 years ago.

My parts car is currently stored in a shed with a dirt floor. How high up do I need to get the car to get the transmission out?

I'm just looking for any thoughts or ideas you may have as I contemplate this project. TIA

BTW, I have zero interest in putting a different transmission in my car. ZERO!

Can you provide some more information on the condition?

Do you mean by "momentarily loses flow when accelerating" that the rate of acceleration drops and then resumes when there is no change in throttle?

Since it is leaking, have you filled it before the drive when the problem occurs?

Following a drive when the problem occurs, how low has the fluid level dropped?

Do you have the temperatures both when it works and when it has the problems?

Once the problem occurs, does it occur every time thereafter?

When the problem is occurring accelerating from a stop, what happens if you back up, stop and then accelerate forward?

Does the problem occur in both High and Low?

Was Direct Drive engaged before slowing or stopping before the problem occurs?

I am assuming you will be using a transmission jack or dolly. If the transmission is supported by the pan it's 17" clearance plus the height of your dolly. The thing weighs like 260 lbs so don't kill yourself trying to get it out. Definitely not one to drop on your chest etc.

Carefully read the removal instructions as you have to support the engine when removing it and it can be tricky to do with the engine in the car. If you can, pulling the engine and trans out as an assembly after removing the front clip is not much harder but much safer IMHO.

For your condition, you should be able to tell when the DD engages, and therefore whether it's the DD clutch slipping or something else. It pretty much has to be that if you notice it after the engagement. If it's before, it's probably your HRC but it's also possible there is some problem with your reactor not locking up all the way, though that's uncommon especially on the first gen Ultras.

Please describe in detail exactly what happens when you say "losing flow"?

P.S. I agree there's really no point in transmission swapping the first gen Ultra cars, even more so than for the Twin Ultras. There's really hardly anything that tends to go wrong with them as pretty much the only thing the transmission does is engage and disengage the DD clutch.