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I've decided to start rebuilding my 50 ultramatic this winter while cleaning up the engine bay. My symptoms before was that it seemingly would "drop" out of gear at stop lights, and go when you started to build rpms. Also, once in a great while, when you came to a stop, it would almost stall before releasing. I attributed the first to leaky seals (front or servo, figured i'd do them all) and the later to dirt in the governor. Also, i could never get any fluid out of the torque converter when changing it (found out today the plug holes were clogged with packed in gunk)

I never had trouble when it slipped into direct drive, never found junk in the pan, never made any weird noise. In fact, it did its best work on the highway (sometimes at 80+ no problem).

I wasn't going to work on the converter at all for fear of messing something up, but am glad i did because i found some minor crap in there and was able to remove the plate that sits in the back of the converter and clean those passages out. There was plenty fluid in there to drain, and it stank a bit, although the main tranny fluid was fine.





My current questions are this:

Is the disc below in the first pic the disc that Kanter sells with newer gm lining and i'm assuming i should put it in because this one seems to have material missing? Also, does the splined hub come out of the center or does a new disc come with one? Mine seemed pretty well stuck.

Reverse worked great, but i understand that when i get into the tranny itself that there is a low/reverse band; should it be replaced as a pre-caution or are they ok if they weren't experiencing trouble? I was just planning on doing seals before i found the clutch disc looking about to fail.

Also, in the second pic, i accidentally bent the tv linkage from the throttle on the carb to the side lever on the tranny. I didn't see a listing with Kanter. Anyone have one they want to sell or at least give me some dimensions so i can make one?

I'm sure i'll be back in with questions as i move along, thanks all for the help with finding parts and planning this! The service manual has been a life saver.

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The splined center is part of it.

Believe the clutch comes complete. That one does seem to have a bit of wear and flaking cork, so good thing you looked. Being a 23rd series, there are some unique parts --particularly if an early trans-- and the throttle rod is a one series only. Believe that has the bellcrank pivot on the side of case and is a two piece setup. There are dimensions for single piece 51 on but I don't find anything for that. Ross might have some suggestions on straightening and getting it adjusted properly.

Seems i will have to send it out to be relined, as Kanter doesn't have any 11 3/4 discs in stock to exchange with, which will take a couple weeks...which means i'll likely forget exactly how things go back together in the converter :-/

Also happened to be down chatting with our local transmission guy today about a 700r4 for my father in law's 57 truck. While there i was talking to him about the ultramatic (which i had the impression that he had done one or two a long time ago) and he gave me about 100 pointers on rebuilding it (watch out for this spring, it always falls when you try to get the shaft in, if you're using old plates sometimes you have to scuff them, those are balanced converters, make sure you mark the front and back halves when you remove them [i did] etc etc).

I asked him how much it would take in labor if i got the full rebuild kit for him (he said bushings too! most rebuild kits don't have bushings!) and he sad about $300 if i was bringing the transmission in and not in the car and i said deal! I'll put the converter back together with the new disc when it comes in and check the end play one more time, then set it aside when for when the tranny is done.

I know a lot of local tranny shops don't know much about ultramatics and others have had run into trouble, but he already knew the details of what was going on inside the converter before i told him any of the setbacks i had, and already knew what trouble i was going to run into inside the ultramatic itself. That to me means he already has it down mostly pat in his mind and won't be confused when he gets in there.

He should do a better job than me anyway considering he has transmission experience and i have none. He of course brought up that the TV linkage had to be right, etc. etc. so i felt better knowing he had experience with this kind of tranny before.

I thought that price was a steal, and told him that if he didn't mind i'd post about my experience when it's done and his give out his info via pm here if people wanted it. I asked why he doesn't let he known that he'll work on these trannys (especially being about 30 minutes from the National Museum in Warren, handful of Packards around here) and he said because most older car enthusiasts are sitting there with cash in hand and want the job done right now, asap, with tons of updates and details, and he just doesn't work that way. He said it would take a few weeks and i said fine, that i'd be doing motor work anyways. So i guess if you're on a budget and can wait till its done without being to anxious, he seems to be a good guy to hand our tranny's to up here in NE Ohio. I'll keep my updates posted here and see if things turn out good or bad.


Also, i do see that the linkage did connect to a bell crank on the transmission and then i THINK there was one that connected opposite this one and went to the back of the tranny somewhere? I'll have to get out there and go through parts and look again.

Again, if someone will give me some basic measurements, i'm sure i can make one.

Thanks all for the help and i'll keep updating!

There's a 23rd series NOS converter clutch disc now on eBay for sale by Roscoe Stelford, $99.

I did see that, but for a couple more bucks i can get the one lined with more modern material and not worry about the original breaking and cracking again. Now if it was $50 i might be tempted

Contact Roscoe and make him an offer, he just might take it! Good luck.

Just my but Packard used a softer material for the clutch lining which was a part of their very smooth shifting. I'd buy the original.
This advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

A used disc with whatever experiences its had and with a new lining material that may or may not be an improvement over the original material? I agree with Randy - I'd go with an NOS disc. Lots of Ultramatics running around happily with modern alternative linings, but that doesn't mean they're better, just that they're available.

Definitely worth considering. I'll kick it around and see which way i go. I'm looking more for long life than smoothness (i put a few thousand miles a summer on the car, so it's not just car shows or parades) so i'd like something that lasts, but you make some excellent points.