Lokar Kickdown adjustment

-
65barracudaLA

65barracudaLA

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
659
Reaction score
704
Location
Los Angeles, CA
I have a Lokar kickdown cable in my '65 Barracuda, 318 w/ Edelbrock 1406 carb, cable shifted A904. It's never been adjusted correctly, I used to just leave a bit loose/ longer at the carb side, so it would shift when I wanted it to. Now I want to fix that and I read somewhere here that I might have to move the mounting point a bit more in on the lever on the transmission.

Since the transmission is in the car and it's not that easy to reach I was wondering if someone has done this and could possibly tell me where to drill the new hole. I would like to limit the trial and error to a minimum.

I heard there are a few different levers out there and who knows if this one is even originally from a '65 A904. currently the holes are 1-3/4" center to center from each other.

Any ideas?

_HILng9R5rKrp08gC5VOQe4=w798-h1064-s-no?authuser=0.jpg
 
You better get it right, or you will burn up the trans
 
65barracudaLA said:
I have a Lokar kickdown cable in my '65 Barracuda, 318 w/ Edelbrock 1406 carb, cable shifted A904. It's never been adjusted correctly, I used to just leave a bit loose/ longer at the carb side, so it would shift when I wanted it to. Now I want to fix that and I read somewhere here that I might have to move the mounting point a bit more in on the lever on the transmission.

Since the transmission is in the car and it's not that easy to reach I was wondering if someone has done this and could possibly tell me where to drill the new hole. I would like to limit the trial and error to a minimum.

I heard there are a few different levers out there and who knows if this one is even originally from a '65 A904. currently the holes are 1-3/4" center to center from each other.

Any ideas?

View attachment 1716093140
Click to expand...
Plenty has been posted here, there are tech articles elsewhere and Lokar has their own instructions.

The ratio has to match 1:1

What I did when I ran two of them:

Measure: Carb throttle shaft centerline to the kickdown ball pivot (as mounted in the correct throttle lever hole) centerline.

Duplicate that measurement on the lever and drill the hole. Centerline to centerline exactly. Make sure your drill bits are sharp, good quality.

Then hold the throttle wide open, pull the cable all the way forward until the kickdown lever stops, tighten the cable set screw.

You want the kickdown lever to be all the way back when you hit WOT.
 
Last edited:
I’ve found shift quality is best adjusted a bit loose on the carb side, otherwise it shifts hard.
 
You should start with it adjusted so that the lever on the transmission is pushed all the way back when the gas pedal is on the floor. Notice I said gas pedal, not grabbing the throttle at the carburetor. Block the pedal on the floor and them make the adjustment so the lever is all the way back at the transmission. This is a starting point for adjustment ans normally will have the transmission shifting late and hard. From there, you can adjust to your taste. If it does not shift late and hard adjusted at the starting point and if it does not down shift when the pedal is depressed, then the kickdown bolt in the transmission likely needs adjusting. As mentioned above though, if the kickdown cable (or linkage) is left loose, you can very easily burn the transmission up and it does not take long. It's not a Chevy. It MUST have the kickdown hooked up, adjusted correctly and operating.
 
12many said:
Plenty has been posted here, there are tech articles elsewhere and Lokar has their own instructions.

The ratio has to match 1:1

What I did when I ran two of them:

Measure: Carb throttle shaft centerline to the kickdown ball pivot (as mounted in the correct throttle lever hole) centerline.

Duplicate that measurement on the lever and drill the hole. Centerline to centerline exactly. Make sure your drill bits are sharp, good quality.

Then hold the throttle wide open, pull the cable all the way forward until the kickdown lever stops, tighten the cable set screw.

You want the kickdown lever to be all the way back when you hit WOT.
Click to expand...

Thank you, @12many! This makes a lot more sense than what I've read so far - including the Lokar instructions. They should just print yours word for word. Gonna go measure and drill now.
 
Sounds like yours was like mine at first. If you stayed in the throttle you'd have to let off for the trans to shift. I tried adjusting the cable a couple different ways, looser, tighter, etc. and it didnt really seem to make a difference until I put a really light return spring on the lever on the trans. The lever had so little resistance until halfway through its travel that sometimes it would just sit wherever it wanted to. A small return spring and tightening the cable with the accelerator pedal floored got it where i wanted it. Once you get to that point you can adjust the shift points by moving the stopper on the cable forward or back 1/8" or so until it feels right.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top