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I'm no expert on the Ultramatic, but slow cranking could be caused by several things - not necessarily the trans or converter. The converter would have to be severely damaged for it to be locked up, but even if it is, that doesn't necessarily mean the trans is shot.

You should remove the spark plugs (and disconnect the primary wire from the coil to the distributor terminal to prevent stray spark), then crank the engine. With no compression, it should crank over with little effort, but be gentle as you won't have much oil pressure to "float" the crankshaft in the bearings. If cranking is still labored, the problem could be upstream with the starter or downstream with the converter, but the only way to find out is to dig deeper. (After all those years sitting in a field, surely you plan on going through the starter.)

Meanwhile, your earlier statement that the driveshaft hits the floor raises an eyebrow. I can't see how an trans problem would cause that - sounds more like the shaft is bent. Or, was it disconnected from the rear axle to facilitate moving the car? In either case, just remove the shaft from the car, per the shop manual, completely for now.

As for the position of the manual valve, I can't make anything out from the pix, but it sure sounds like someone was in there before you and didn't know what they were doing. Only a disassembly of the control valve and inspection of the spool valve will tell you if it's beyond use (bent). Handle internal transmission parts with the utmost care; a knicked or dirty spool valve will cause you a lot of grief later.

Now, it could be that the parking pawl is stuck in the parking gear, but I can't see how the position of the manual valve or parking pawl would affect cranking. Nothing in between the torque converter and the output shaft is "in gear" without hydraulic pressure. In fact, when the clutch linings are burned up, the result is slippage.

While there's nothing wrong with wanting to replace a questionable transmission that hasn't been operated in years, I'm the kind of person that wants to know what failed - so I can avoid that problem in the future. That means taking forensic analysis a step at a time. Make sure you review the Ultramatic section from the 1955-56 Shop manual and all relevant issues of the Packard Service Counselor and Service Technical Bulletin and the Studebaker Service Bulletin prior to reassembly.

not too worried about the transmission right now. i think i am just going to get a new one from Bob Aller. he worked for Packard from 1949 to when they closed and happens to have a transmission that is already rebuilt and painted the correct color just sitting there ready for me. this one has issues and is red and needs paint....so i will either trade it to him or keep it for spare parts. we will see what happens when i talk to him.

the driveshaft is disconnected at the rear end, so that is why it tapped the underside of the car.

the motor turned over fine, i can move it by hand with the fan blades, very smooth and easy. the starter motor engaged great, no problems and no weird noises. i believe the reason it was labored sounding trying to start was that it hasn't been tried in about 10-15 years and the trans is locked up. so the starter is try to turn the motor and the trans at the same time....pretty hard work i would say.

once i get the body off it will be much easier to work on the trans and get it out to see exactly what is wrong with it, but i still think i am going to get the expertly rebuilt one from Bob, couple of others i know have one of his and they have been running flawlessly for well over 15+ years no problems. plus that is one less thing to worry about repainting and fixing.

i plan on taking the driveshaft off, but one question does the gear stay with the motor or is it part of the trans...in other words do i need the trans to start the motor or can i disconnect and work on the motor that way and the starter will still engage the gear. as far as i can tell it is part of the motor. they don't really talk about this gear in the trans part of the book.

anyways...on to posting everyone's favorite.....PICTURES!!



Hank

okay.....so looking at the pic of the little rust hole trough my dash.....GREAT!!! AWESOME!!! WONDERFUL!!! SUPER!! note the sarcasm.....

got pretty much the driver's side done, next i think i will move on to the glass and then the passenger's side.

got pretty much every accessory on the driver's side of the fender, etc...cleaned and repainted. surprisingly they cleaned up nicely and was actually enjoyable to do. better than watching meaningless t.v.

enjoy.

Hank

p.s. you don't want to know how many little black fuzzy spiders i had to kill when i removed the brake light....little bastards!! I HATE SPIDERS!!!

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update for last night:

we got the back glass out. the round locking rubber...well.....it was no longer rubber it was plastic and hard as a rock, but broke off nicely. My dad and I were able to push the glass right out after taking that locking ring out. trim came of nicely too. i think this is going to be the only really usuable piece of glass on the whole car.

finished painting the last coats on the battery tray and will move on to the back window hinge next. if you notice on it that at the factory they only primed the one side because it was already in the car, but i plain to do it outside the car and catch both sides so i will never have to worry about it again.

enjoy the pics.

Hank

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Mopar has a round locking rubber almost the identical size used in the rear window of pickup trucks. That is what I used when I replaced the rear window in the 400.

Randy, do you have any more info. That sounds like something that might be nice to add to the reference list. Didn't see anything (quick look only) other than WS on Steels Packard pages.

couldn't you just get the entire kit from Max Merritt or someone of the sort....or do they not carry it.

thanks for the tip though.

can anyone tell me what all the holes in the package tray were for. i know one was for a rear speaker and possibly the the outside ones were for the air vents...

Not sure about the '55 A/C setup, but alot of the body metal was carried over from the '54 model year. In '54, the A/C unit was mounted in the truck and the air blew up from the back deck through some of those holes.

Also there is a rare factory option for a rear window defroster. This was basically a small unit which consisted of an electric heating coil with blower fan that mounted in one of those holes.

A NOS one of these showed up on ebay about a year ago and was bid into the high $400s before it was all said and done. Lets just say that I was not the high bidder that day.

Perhaps the V8 guys can fill in more infomation.

Howard, I had to replace the original rear window back in the early 80's. Steele didn't make a rear gasket for the 56 400 then and Kanter wanted way too much. At first I thought Kanter was quoting me for an NOS gasket. I went to the local Mopar dealer to get the interlock rubber and can't remember the part number. It was slightly smaller in diameter and I used a cut-off piece of antenna tubing to section out the screw holes. Perhaps Steele makes the interlock rubber as they now make the gasket. Memory says it was about 17 feet long.