Kick down

I just put a new throttle shaft in my Holley 1850 so I could hook up a downshift rod. Took the '70 Mustang fastback 351w C4 out for a run yesterday and mashed the peddle (while in drive) at about 40mph and nothing! It never kicked down. I've got the kick down adjusting screw on the carb where I think it needs to be. Moving the linkage to full throttle by hand, the kickdown stop arm hits the head of the screw. At this point I'm still able to push down on the rod itself another half inch or so but cannot make the throttle mash the down shift rod that half inch more. The throttle is wide open and won't move the kick down rod any further. Any suggestions?

Thanks...dave

Throw that stuff out and get an adjustable Lokar setup so you can tune it right. Whatever you do, the kickdown will not function until the lever on the trans is at full travel at full throttle.

You may be able to use the original KD rod with some careful bending. It's a PITA (have to disconnect it for each try) but it can be done. You want the KD rod to only have an additional .05-.06 travel when at WOT.

David

Are you using the origional kickdown rod?

Is this the changeover kit you used?



It should be able to be adjusted to catch second gear at WOT or at any point under for passing gear.

Yes sir. That is the exact kit I bought for the Holley. The car runs great. It is NOT the original kick down rod. I bought it off e-bay for ten bucks and it supposedly came off a '70 Fastback but with a 302 which is what mine originally had until the 351w was put in. Further, I bent the snot out of it just to get it to line up with the boomerang shaped kickdown lever on the side of the trans. It kept rubbing against the tranny on it's way up and past the firewall. It's almost as if the rod could be about an inch or more shorter. Maybe I should just make one out of some fuel line or something. (?)

Regardless, There's still alot of travel to be done at the kickdown lever on the trans even with the throttle at wide open.

Thanks for all the feedback..First timer with hot rods. Gave up the Harley stuff.

As mentioned if you still have 1/2" of travel i doubt it is even working. Need to adjust so full throttle ,K/d linkage is full down with a little clearance so the K/D is not binding the carb at full throttle.

Oh...I see. Not the correct kickdown rod.

With the correct rod, the fuel linkage will engage the kickdown at the point where you want passing gear. You don't have to wait for WOT. The free travel and spring are there to have normal pedal movement without initiating passing gear. The position of that adjusting screw will determine when it kicks in. I usually take the car for a ride with a screwdriver and stop enough times for the desired adjustment.

If you have trouble locating the correct rod, maybe consider LOKAR as has been mentioned.

Thanks for all the input. I think I got it to work. I put an extension piece on the end of the rod at the linkage which created more travel for the rod thereby engaging the kickdown lever on the trans to it's full rotation. I took it out and hammered it and sure enough it worked like a champion.

So much more fun when it grabs second from drive. Actually broke lose once! Gotta love it! Thanks again. dave

Ford Trans Kickdown Extension


Part #: 20-41

You want about .060" of clearance when the throttle is wide open and the rod is pushed down all the way. You can adjust the screw to give that clearance. As stated above it is to make sure there is no interference in the linkage.