Locar kickdown adjustment

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gm1236

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Anybody using the locar kickdown setup? I have one and it’s quite nice, but if I adjust like the instructions say the 2-3 shift is late, over 3000 at light throttle pressure. I put about 3/16 slack in the cable and now it shifts normal.
Thoughts on this?
Thanks for looking.
 
i've got maybe 1/8th to 2/8th of slack. I get normal 1-2 and 2-3 shifts. However I've got a tci street fighter trans and a 2900 stall. So each set up is a little different.

Are you at full kick lever movement when at full throttle?
 
No, there is maybe 3/16 play. When I first set it up I had full kickdown. When I backed it off it worked much better.
I have 3500 stall converter, so it’s a little weird to begin with.
 
the short abody trans side kinkdown leaver seems to work the best too.. the longer ones people seem to have to drill a new hole to get it to act right.
 
Anybody using the locar kickdown setup? I have one and it’s quite nice, but if I adjust like the instructions say the 2-3 shift is late, over 3000 at light throttle pressure. I put about 3/16 slack in the cable and now it shifts normal.
Thoughts on this?
Thanks for looking.

I’ve got slack in mine. Ignored instructions and like others stated get it where you want it. Make sure KD working. If you have a non-stock or modified VB, you’ll have to adjust it some anyway.
 
No, there is maybe 3/16 play. When I first set it up I had full kickdown. When I backed it off it worked much better.
I have 3500 stall converter, so it’s a little weird to begin with.

so it now shifts right at light throttle. how is it at full throttle?
 
I really haven’t tried it at full throttle yet. But it seemed a little soft on the shifts. I didn’t know they made different levers.
 
That makes total sense. To get it to shift right under full throttle I may need a shorted lever. It’s a 383 in a duster, so it is most likely the long lever. Probably easier to drill a new hole in the one I have.
 
here, from another site..


John Kunkel has it right when it comes to the Lokar kick down cable. I installed a Lokar cable in my 64 440 Belvedere 18 years ago. I followed their install instructions, but was always dealing with a late 2-3 shift.
After reading some of his prior posts here, I finally did something about it earlier this year.
First I drilled a new hole to relocated the cable attaching point on the transmission lever inward about 1". I also added a return spring that I installed in the original hole that the cable previously attached to.
A big improvement was realized. I finally have a transmission that shifts correctly.
100_5049.jpg
 
I was able to heat and bend my lever to essentially make it shorter and clear the transmission cooler lines. I put in a Z bend. So that I had full movement when at full throttle.

My return spring is part of my throttle body.
 
Thanks so much abody joe and overlook 68.
I guess he move the hole about 1”. Maybe somebody has an abody lever that I could get a measurement from?
 
if i get a chance and actually remember i can see if i can get a measurement off of mine. its tight in there though.
 
No, there is maybe 3/16 play. When I first set it up I had full kickdown. When I backed it off it worked much better.
I have 3500 stall converter, so it’s a little weird to begin with.

Same here , I backed mine off about 1/8 to 3/16' to help the 3 gear shift , it was slamming so hard , I thot it would knock my U joints.
 
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9018E8F7-6810-41C3-B2AB-028B32ABFE54.jpeg
Here are a couple of levers I found in my junk. The one on the left was in the car. I’m guessing the one on the right is for an abody? Notice the difference in the D shape orientation. Also the offset is opposite (top photo) on the one I had in the car and it cleared the shift linkage. I tried the short one but it hit the shift linkage. I flipped it over and I can’t get at the bolt to tighten it. What do you think?
 
I tried the short one but it hit the shift linkage. I flipped it over and I can’t get at the bolt to tighten it. What do you think?

you can tweak that ever so slightly and make it clear. also make sure the shift linkage is all the way down.
 
How many different versions of this thing did they make? That looks perfect Kim. I’m going to drill another hole in the long one and try that. It will fall on the angle, shouldn’t be a problem.
Thanks again guys, I’ll let you know how it works.
 
I seem to be at the same point. I don't mean to hijack the thread and I may be ignorant on how the shifting works. I have the long lever but I am using a Transgo tf2 valve body reprogrammer. I have the quicksilver shifter that I installed today. With that shifter, would I be ok to leave the lever as it is since we sill shift manually on the strip? Big rookie here!!!
 
The short and long kickdown lever depended on the vehicle having the 2 bellcrank-3 rod system, all A Bodies and 70 and earlier B Bodies-Short lever. Or the one piece long rod system on the 71 up B Bodies all E Bodies and all C Bodies-Long lever.
 
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