1953 Mercomatic rebuilding info

[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.