Throttle/kickdown linkage adjustment help

[Notaclue]

Hey all, been awhile since I posted. However recently had a chance to start working on my 73 rr clone again and I'm running into issues with the throttle rod adjustment. I have a 318 bored .60 over n stroked and it has a one-piece throttle rod. I need to know if the slotted section that connects to the carb is supposed to b move or b free floating. Thx in advance

 

[paladin06]

Pictures might help..

 

[Notaclue]

Indeed they would, will do.

 

[idrivemopar]

If you are running a 4-barrel and have one piece it should look like this.



2-barrel with one piece should be similar.

 

[Notaclue]

Excellent that's just what I needed to see. So the slotted arm runs free between 2 washers then correct?

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Also do you have more pics of your setup I could view? I imagine it would help a great deal and give me a starting point as well. Thx

 

[b_body_hopeful]

From what I have put together, yes it does.

 

[66chargerpat]

Dude! You got it backwards. It goes on the pin that the throttle cable hooks to. As you pull the throttle back ,it pushes the kick down lever back.

 

[Notaclue]

It will barely reach the pin the cable is on though. I had it like that when I had my Holley dp on n it seemed all wrong. What I'm most curious about at this point is whether I need to secure it in a certain position or whether it is free to slide back and forth like it appears to do in the pic idrivemopars posted. If I attach it where the cable is then it's raised up quite a bit and overextended.

 

[66chargerpat]

Your intake is higher than stock. that why you had to move you throttle cable up so high. The same thing you need to do with your kickdown. the kickdown and throttle cable have to move in the same direction. the harder you push on the gas,the harder the kickdown pushs on the trans. This changes raises you shift point and increases your stiffness of your shift. Without this ,your trans will smoke it self.

 

[Notaclue]

But the throttle lever on the tranny is spring loaded n set to move under pressure in the forwards position. That's why the manual says to hold the lever forward while adjusting the rod that connects to it. So I'm now more confused then when I started at this point. I understand what u are saying but it seems like it would b pulling it towards the front of the car as opposed to pushing it back towards the firewall.

 

[idrivemopar]

If it still reaches the throttle rod, that would be better then where it is now, although steep angle will make adjusting it correct more difficult and you may have to insert something to move up the rear point on the lever. As your throttle comes back your current setup is pulling forward on the throttle lever and doing nothing for the kick down activation. Also, no need for a spring where you have it along the throttle lever to kick down mechanism. What you care about is where the throttle rod hits the back of the throttle lever, this in turn pushes on the kick down lever at the pivot point and allows your trans to down shift under higher travel as you press the gas pedal.

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You may have to modify the throttle lever to account for the height change of your carb so it would look something like this. Just a thought.



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Maybe this will help.

Here is the position at idle.




Here it is at full throttle, notice how everything has move back toward the fire wall.

 

[Notaclue]

Thank you for the detailed reply and the pics, makes perfect sense now. I was confused why the manual had the spring where it did (that's why I placed where it is, I had it in the correct position before) will see how it operates now. Thx again and your setup is looking real nice btw!

 

[Bruzilla]

When you adjust it, you want the kickdown lever to be at it's furthest point to the rear when the carb is at wide open throttle. You can adjust that by loosening the bolt on the kickdown lever and sliding it forwards or backwards as needed.

Once you get it set, take the car out and check where the shifts occur, and move the kickdown forward a little at a time until you get the right shift points.

 

[EV2 GTX]

Hey guys...just finished setting my kickdown linkage as I'm having some trans issues as well. I found this video in the process and found it explained a little more in detail than the service manual. Kind of neat to see the vintage video as well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsfI9cFFPpg

Good luck....

 

[idrivemopar]

Well, I'll be!!!!!! Learn something new every day, and I stand corrected on advice to NotAClue, as the video shows the spring I though was not necessary, and since I have had my car for the past 31 years, mine never had that spring in place. Thanks for the video!!!!

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Well, now I know what this short and light spring that's been rolling around in my parts bin since the 80's is for!!! Time to paint and install it back on the car! LOL

Thanks Notaclue, I guess it was really me that didn't have a clue! hahahahahaha

 

[idrivemopar]

Thought I would post up a proper photo of the linkage for anyone interested, this should be as shown in the service manual, etc, just easier to see what goes where.

 

[aldal]

Just wanted to chime in and commend the people on this site for being so helpful to other Mopar folks and their problems....I think it's really cool.

 

[HT413]

Just a thought, you might consider a double throttle return spring. That one spring is the difference between letting off the throttle and possibly a dangerous situation.

 

[idrivemopar]

Just a thought, you might consider a double throttle return spring. That one spring is the difference between letting off the throttle and possibly a dangerous situation.

I thought about that, I have some smaller diameter springs that will fit inside the return spring, and I have seen this on some cars. However, the spring that holds the kick down lever forward does not have a lot of tension, but if the main throttle spring broke, I could see how that may be a problem. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Notaclue]

I too would like to express my gratitude to everybody that volunteered their expertise. That's why I actually joined this site, because of all the forums this has the most people who prefer to help as opposed to point out how wrong you are! Thanks again everybody! I'm sure ill b posting many more questions in the near future! And thx for the suggestion of doubling up on the other spring I too can see how that would be beneficial.