People put manual valve bodies in their transmissions because they are either to lazy to source the parts, or are inept in being able to fabricate what they need. I hate manual valve bodies and I have never used a cable setup. I have helped probably 20-25 people to get their kickdown in working order. Sorry to piss the few off.
I don't think a manual valve body that allows you have 100 percent control 100 percent of the time is lazy. The entire kickdown apparatus is Rube Goldberg at best, and looks like hell