Lokar kick down cable mod to raise shift points!

[Clelan]

On my 74 Duster with a 360, 904 and 3.23 gears I installed a Lokar throttle cable and kick down cable. It worked ok but my shift points were way too low when I adjusted the kick down to allow wide open throttle. I decided to install a spring to pull the cable sooner and still allow WOT. See the pictures below to see how I added the spring on the kick down cable. I raised the shift points to 1-2 at about 25 mph and 2-3 at 50 mph when the throttle is at WOT in drive. I'm going to try a little more tension on the spring cause part throttle acceleration could use it and it still won't kick down from 3rd when passing.

Cley

 

[67 gt]

Get rid of that spring for starters ! now set your cable adjuster mid point than get some one to hold throttle flat by pushing on the peddle but before doing that lossen that kd cable grub screw , now what you what is to take up the slack . while your friend has the peddle to the floor pull on that kick down cable not all the way just to take up the slack than its just trial and error ! test drive it if it holds to long between shifts back it off if it shifts too early give the cable more tension , just make sure under idle kick down is not pulling throttle open . With fine adjustments use the adjuster which goes through bracket, once you have gotten to where you like it trim cable but leave a little of over hang. What I do is put some heat shrink on it up to grub screw than trim it so it looks neat and stops the cable from fraying {coming apart}

 

[Clelan]

What carb are you running? On my holley, if I adjust it like that i won't get WOT on the carb. That's why I added the spring.
Cley

 

[kiss]

Set the Lokar adjuster on the carb so at WOT the lever is all the way back on the transmission. At this adjustment you may find that the shift points are too high at light/normal throttle. Back off the Lokar adjuster in VERY small increments until you achieve the correct shift points at light/normal throttle. After the correct shift points are achieved push the pedal to WOT and see if the kickdown still works. If it does you're all set.

Once the desired shift points are achieved if the kickdown doesn't work the 'throw' is off with the Lokar cable. In order to fix that you need to drill an additional hole (or multiple) on the transmission kickdown lever closer to the pivot point. Try the different holes and repeat the steps above. This can take some tinkering. What you need to achieve is correct shift points at light/normal throttle as well as kickdown at WOT.

Additionally often times you need to add a light return spring down at the transmission kickdown lever to get consistent downshifting during throttle release or at stop lights.

 

[barracudadave67]

little tick to keep the cable from fraying........... Go to a bicycle shop that does repairs, and ask for the little aluminum caps that go on the end of all the cables on bikes. Then just crimp it on, and no more frayed cables. Always use a good sharp cable cutter to cut cables, you will get no fraying, with them. I had a bicycle shop for 32 yrs., along with a western boot shop.
I have Lokar kick down on my 69, and the trick is to have no slack in the cable.

barracudadave67

 

[Clelan]

I'm going to keep tuning my spring to try and get the desired result. Seems easier than redrilling or modifying mounts. If it doesnt work I'm only out about 3 bucks and some time. It's already way better than it was.

Cley

 

[d55dave]

It is all about the cable rigging. Ultimately you want the transmission lever pulled all the way back at wide open throttle, in order to assure maximum line (hydraulic) pressure in the transmission. This is what ultimately applies the bands and holds the clutch packs engaged. Low line pressure equals slipping clutches and bands which leads to premature transmission failure.

After max deflection at wide open throttle is set the shift points are affected by the point at which the cable starts to pull or, or linkage push (if you still have mechanical linkage). The earlier this takes place in relation to throttle movement the higher the shift points are for any given throttle setting.

The point of all this is, if you just simply adjust the shift points by adjusting the cable you may not have full deflection and therefore full line pressure at wide open throttle.

This is why the amount of throw on either the carb or transmission linkage needs to be adjusted. You are in essence affecting two things at once.

So..... rig it for max deflection at wide open throttle. If you find your shift points are too low or two high you need to adjust the throw at either the carb linkage or transmission accordingly to give more or less motion, then re adjust for max deflection at wide open throttle and see how the shift points are.

FYI, I like to think that I am not cheap, but have a true hotrod spirit. Consequently I couldn't bring myself to pay the cash for a lokar set up, especially after hearing so many stories of frayed cables and needing to mess with adjustments. I went to pick and pull and bought a factory cable set up out of a late model b van. I used the transmission lever from it, return spring, cable, transmission mount (bolts right onto the 727) and modified the throttle body bracket to fit onto my factory kickdown bracket. It works awesome and cost me $15.

 

[Clelan]

I thought I'd humbly reply to this thread I started. Though the mod I did worked as I expected by having the throttle pressure come on sooner during throttle travel, I was just masking the real problem. Had I adjusted the kickdown band properly, the spring set up would not have been needed. I thought I had a pressure vs throttle position issue but the band was just too loose to get the shift the way I wanted it.

Cley

 

[Bills70]

little tick to keep the cable from fraying........... Go to a bicycle shop that does repairs, and ask for the little aluminum caps that go on the end of all the cables on bikes. Then just crimp it on, and no more frayed cables. Always use a good sharp cable cutter to cut cables, you will get no fraying, with them. I had a bicycle shop for 32 yrs., along with a western boot shop.
I have Lokar kick down on my 69, and the trick is to have no slack in the cable.

barracudadave67

can't you just put some silver solder on the end of cable with a torch, to keep it from fraying?