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G'day all, I would stick with the Ultramatic/ Twin-Ultramatic. They are a very good auto. They have a few interesting design features which often catch even experienced rebuilders of other automatic transmissions out. The main one is that the Ultramatic uses the pump and mainshaft bushes as seals, in which a small amount of wear on the bushes and/or shaft has a dramatic pressure impact, particularly with the operation of the Direct Drive clutch. The other trap is that the converter balance is critical. Many rebuilders pull the converter apart without adaquately marking initial assembly positions of the exernal and internal fixed components. The converter to front pump hub is held on by six, small cap screws at 20 ft lbs. A small amount of imbalance in the assembled converter causes this hub to loosen and results in a leaking converter and a very likely burned out trans. Check with Peter Fitch who operates a replacement overhaul service. He has a lot of experience with the Ultramatic/twin Ultramatic. Best Regards Peter Toet.

Hey Gary400; Just had a relatively easy-to-check brainstorm on your tranny: Pull the pan off and remove the two big round piston housings on the valve body. Don't take the valve body off as the band struts will fall out which is a pain. Check the lip seals on the pistons. They should be soft and pliable, and they should face away from each other, when installed ie, one up, one down. Also, the seal on the shank of the piston should have its lip on the piston side of the retainer, as shown in the manual.

The point of all this is that both the low and reverse pistons are pressurised disengaged when not in use. If the seals are shot or installed wrong all your pump pressure goes whiffling past the seals and there is nothing left to engage anything. Have seen this problem before. If these are Ok, then I would place heavy bets on the front pump being shot.

My experience is that the early Ultras are a 100,000 mile transmission with moderate care. The twins are a 50,000 mile transmission (on average) though I just rode in a 55 Clipper Super with 57k that shifted perfectly in drive no less on an untouched TU.

Call me if you cant find someone nearby to build it.

Thanks Ross, i've pm'd ya. gary

Wasn't someone looking for ultramatic tools?

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Packard-Ultramat ... utomotive_Tools?hash=item2304cdf1d4

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Packard-Ultramat ... utomotive_Tools?hash=item2304cdf672

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Packard-Ultramat ... utomotive_Tools?hash=item2304ce03d8

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Packard-Ultramat ... utomotive_Tools?hash=item2304ce00fb

Gauge set would be good to have. Other than a rare nostalgia or collectible item, not sure about how much use the others would be since not an abundance of new parts to compare or use them on. Now if a nice set of bushing tools would come up, they should be grabbed.

I was the one looking for the tools, but unfortunately there's no budget for them right now.