1953 Mercomatic rebuilding info

[Sunnybob]

Hi Folks,
soon I will have to rebuild the automatic transmission fordomatic of my 1953 Mercury. Unfortunately I live in Italy and it will not be easy to find someone with the knowledge to do a good job. Also not knowing if the new front band will be needed, and considering that even in the USA it is only in exchange, I purchased a NOS band on ebay.





I come to the question: is the replacement, which is anyway 60/70 years old, valid or could the friction material have deteriorated on the shelf? Thanks for the answers.

[Merc Cruzer]

You might want to explain what the symptoms are, that your are experiencing, that make you feel, you will need to rebuild the transmission.

[Newc]

On mine we discovered that the 1st and reverse band was gone, also clearances around the pumps is critical. Cast iron case with pump cavities machined into case. Newc

[Sunnybob]

Originally Posted by Merc Cruzer

You might want to explain what the symptoms are, that your are experiencing, that make you feel, you will need to rebuild the transmission.

Roy, you are right. Here what is doing my trasmission:


When cold (I mean when started after sitting a day at least) and putting in Drive I can feel the trasmissiion engaging but there is low traction. I mean the car does move at low rpm ( and accelerating very, very slowly), but transmission slips if I try to accelerate in a normal way. It goes a little better in low speed, but slips also in first.



As the car does move, the best is to use low as it arrive at about 20 mph and then shift manually in drive. After driving it for few miles in "retired mode" (4/5 miles) the problem disappear and I can drive it almost without problems.


Some others points:


I bought the car less than two years ago, the previous owner never use it and it was parked for last 10 years.



I put new dexron II and filter as first thing.



As it started to slip at cold, I changed from dexron II to Type F fluid. No improvement



Following Roy and manual advices I tryed to set Throttle control rod but problem still there.



I read in some forum that it could be a old seals problem, as they keep only when warm and the solution is the overhaul.

[rotorwrench]

Bands are only part of the lock up. The clutch pack piston seals can go bad and not allow a good plate lock up. There can be leaks at the ring seals that seal the flow into ports and tubes. The tubes can also be leaking at junction points. Any plate slippage is bad news on the old all metal clutches. They make a lot of metal if they slip.

Get an old Merc-O-Matic manual. The adjustments on bands and operating pressures can be done without the factory tools if you know what the torques and pressures should be. That band in the photo is still good. They don't deteriorate if well stored. Rubber is another thing. It should be sealed in the original packaging or it will deteriorate. If it has flat rubber o-rings then it needs that type to replace the old ones. If it had round section o-rings then use those. Everything was made to function by design. A lot of folks find that replacement clutches don't fit right so it makes it difficult to get proper stack up on plates. If it won't fit back together right then it won't work right. Get the best replacement parts available. Ask old rebuilders if problems come up. The guys that overhaul the early T-bird transmissions know them better than most.

[nickthebandit]

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Contact FATSCO transmission people in New Jersey, USA. They have the knowledge and parts to help you.

[leon bee]

But the question was is that part likely okay?

[Sunnybob]

Originally Posted by leon bee

But the question was is that part likely okay?

Yes, this is the topic of this thread


Thank you for your advices, I think I will going to overhaul the transmission early next year and, I will take parts from FATSCO.


I Just want to be sure the NOS front band is still good.

[Kurt in NJ]

Possibly find someone in your area that knows Jaguar of the 70-80s transmission,it is similar

[Merc Cruzer]

Originally Posted by Kurt in NJ

Possibly find someone in your area that knows Jaguar of the 70-80s transmission,it is similar

He is in Italy.

[Sunnybob]

A friend told me about a mechanic, specialized in automatic transmissions, who has had experience in the USA for a some years. He also told me that my fordomatic is very similar to the old Borg Warners.... He is currently busy but should be ready to do it at the end of January, early February. He also gave me a reasonable estimate of $2000/2500, including removal from the car and reassembly.

[Kurt in NJ]

Sounds like you found someone that knows about it.
And is reasonably priced.

[kingeak]

Curious on the progress of this.

[Sunnybob]

Originally Posted by kingeak

Curious on the progress of this.

There is no big news for now, the mechanic I found and spoke to, asked me to wait until February, because it is the period of the year when it is quieter and with less work. In the meantime, even though we are in the bad season and it is very cold, I am doing some tests with the adjustment of the throttle control rod. Stay tuned, thank you. Ciao and Happy New Year!

[pistonbroke]

Bob, while your waiting you may want to try this , it worked so well for me that I never did take the transmission out of my 68 Torino and rebuild it. The product is called TransX. What it does is softens and swells the Orings , seals and clutch disks. This stuff made the Fordomatic in my 55 vicy drive the 45 miles home when I bought it ,when at first it wouldn't move at all. They claim it to be just good for symtoms like your but I deffinently put it to the test there. Tim

[Sunnybob]

Hi Tim, I already put a bottle of Lucas Trans X but nothing changed. I read they suggest to add another one sometimes, so my question is: how much Trans X did you use? Thank you.

[Dec211975]

The seals in the front clutch pack (Forward clutch) are hard or cracked, after the transmissive warms up they become more elastic. The band would be applied for 2nd gear. Ford labels the clutches by the position they reside in the case ie front , GM labels their clutches by what operation they perform ie forward. The clutch that is connected by shaft and splines to the converter is always the forward clutch. That Transmission should use type F fluid and the band you have most likely contains asbestos.

[Sunnybob]

Hi Folks, here some news about my Merc O Matic. We rebuilt it and it seems going good now. Seals were very bad and we found also the torque converter hub was broken. Fortunally Fatsco had it new. It was probably opened in the recent past (there was some black sealant) and that was when the damage was done, since there was no metal residue around. Even the clutches were tired from 70 years of work!


Now I'm testing it.. I hope it will last for years now.

[Merc Cruzer]

Good to see you are making progress.

[tubman]

Congratulations on your project. I know I wouldn't even think about rebuilding an automatic transmission at this stage of my life (or any stage, for that matter).

Good for you.