Little help with kickdown on Super Six conv

I know this topic has been beat to death.
on my 66 dart with the slant, i changed it over to the Super six and tried the Lokar thing, never could get it right and could not get kickdown
Then I tried the Bouchillon thing, and couldnt get that right, no clearance at the tranny lever, would need to punch in the floor board atleast 3/4in deep and 5 inches long to get it to install.
So I gave that up.
So now I am in about $280.
So today I tried to use the original old school long rod, and I got it all in and set, had an issue with the tranny end of the rod being too long and it wouldnt kick down as it hit the floor board. So I cut it about 3/4 in shorter, now it is shifting right, and I have glorious kickdown.
My question, at the carb connection, I see in a picture I found that there is a spring that connects the rod to the throttle valve rod? What is that for and is it required? I am afraid if I try to use the spring it will pull the rod up, losing pressure on tranny and causing late shifts.
The throttle return spring I understand and I have it connected. It is that other spring that is the question. Help////

That spring is important. Its job is to pull the end of the slot against the throttle pin so that as soon as the throttle begins to open, the throttle pressure begins to increase.

Without the spring, there is no throttle pressure increase until the pin hits the slot's end.

That's the whole point of having throttle pressure linkage. So that as soon as the throttle opens and the car accelerates, there is increased throttle pressure to hold the clutches together upon an increase in acceleration.

The linkage should be adjusted with that spring installed and accounted for.

Adjust the linkage so the linkage on the transmission is all the way back when the throttle is completely open and adjust from there if the shifts are too late and or too hard.

gdizzle said:

I know this topic has been beat to death.
on my 66 dart with the slant, i changed it over to the Super six and tried the Lokar thing, never could get it right and could not get kickdown
Then I tried the Bouchillon thing, and couldnt get that right, no clearance at the tranny lever, would need to punch in the floor board atleast 3/4in deep and 5 inches long to get it to install.
So I gave that up.
So now I am in about $280.
So today I tried to use the original old school long rod, and I got it all in and set, had an issue with the tranny end of the rod being too long and it wouldnt kick down as it hit the floor board. So I cut it about 3/4 in shorter, now it is shifting right, and I have glorious kickdown.
My question, at the carb connection, I see in a picture I found that there is a spring that connects the rod to the throttle valve rod? What is that for and is it required? I am afraid if I try to use the spring it will pull the rod up, losing pressure on tranny and causing late shifts.
The throttle return spring I understand and I have it connected. It is that other spring that is the question. Help////

View attachment 1715055841

Click to expand...

What is sealing the EGR passages off? Or is it just removed for access, threads still have paint so..............??
The spring keeps the linkage from bouncing back & forth, when the adjustments are done, there is always "free play" at low throttle positions before the cam inside the
trans actually starts pressing on the throttle pressure control.

Put the spring on. If you need the slot back further add a nut to the slot.

Hi. That picture is not my car. Just for reference for the spring. Hey I like the idea about using a nut in that slot. So you guys are saying that the throttle pin is supposed to be snug to the bottom of that slot, right? Right now it is just floating, and seems to be working. So this spring needs to be pretty tight?? This is my setup. this is car off, at rest.

Yes, you want the slot bottomed out on the throttle pin.

According to the FSM you should make the adjustments at the transmission and linkage points, however, a quick way to 'cheat' is to use a nut/bolt/washer in the slot to give a little more adjustment. I did it that way for years and it worked fine. It's a common mod.

The slot and spring are there for safety so if the kickdown rod gets jammed it won't hold the throttle all the way open.

Add the spring, as @RustyRatRod sad it's NOT good for your transmission without it. You need added pressure the second you crack the throttle plates. Additionally you need pressure release when you take your foot off the gas. Currently you aren't achieving either consistently without the spring.

Great thanks for your tips. I dig the idea of the nut in the slot for an easy way to adjust. Getting under into the tranny area is a serious ratfuk. Hey now that I got a couple gurus on this thread.... what is an appropriate cotter pin to go into the kickdown lever? the stuff that was on there was pretty shabby wire twisted around in knots. What do I use?

Update: Installed the spring, and used a nut in the slot. Drove it and had super high shifts. So I then moved the nut farther up in the slot, thinking thats what it needs, and the shifts when even higher.
So removed the nut, now shift is happening (at light throttle) 1-2 around 12mph, 2 - 3 around 22mph. No clunk. And I have kickdown in both gears.

Great. What sort of lube can I use in the pivots on the kickdown rod assembly?

gdizzle said:

Update: Installed the spring, and used a nut in the slot. Drove it and had super high shifts. So I then moved the nut farther up in the slot, thinking thats what it needs, and the shifts when even higher.
So removed the nut, now shift is happening (at light throttle) 1-2 around 12mph, 2 - 3 around 22mph. No clunk. And I have kickdown in both gears.

Great. What sort of lube can I use in the pivots on the kickdown rod assembly?

Click to expand...

White lithium grease in an aerasol can is choice, or just use whatever you have laying around.

To get later shifts you need a finer adjustment than adding a nut+bolt. As you experienced adding that makes the shifts too late. In your case now, if you're unhappy with the current shift points, you'll need to do the adjustment down at the transmission.

**For me personally those shift points are too early. The stock transmission had such early lazy shift points from the factory.

gdizzle, could you tell me what throttle cable/gas pedal you used for your conversion?