Dartin for Divorce

you should be able to disconnect it completely and the trans should drive fine, just no kickdown.

Think about it as kickdown and throttle pressure. Throttle pressure is required to keep the clutches from slipping and damaging the transmission. It also operates the kickdown into "passing gear".

Here's a great article on both the Lokar setup and throttle pressure.

The LowDown On Stock Torqueflite Kick-Down Linkage - Hot Rod