Kixkdown and throttle cable

-
R

Romulo Roderiques

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2021
Messages
120
Reaction score
14
Location
Las Vegas
Hello,

Couldn't find much info for early a bodies on this. I've got a 65 Dart with 273 and A904 trans. I converted it to a four barrell carb with Edelbrock Performer. What has everyone done with their throttle cables and kickdown rod. Someone told me to install a throttle bracket from a 340 but it doesn't look like it will hook up to the rest of the firewall linkage. I've seen some after markets but they don't specify if it will work on the early Abodies.

Thanks in advance
 
I think you just have to use a different upper rod, the factory one was fixed to throttle lever and you need to upgrade it to a sliding later style.
 
LA engine, TF 727 and Thermoquad here. I started out with a Lokar throttle and kickdown cable kit, but I don't think they provide you with a replacement kickdown lever, and the stock lever doesn't have the correct geometry, so I don't think the Lokar kickdown worked right. Eventually I bought a Bouchillon Performance cable kit and Randy Bouchillon held my hand when I installed it. Super nice guy. Now I don't mean to mistakenly badmouth Lokar, so if they offer the correct kickdown lever please let me know. Not only does the Bouchillon kit provide the correct kickdown lever, but it is also quite a bit more substantial than the Lokar kit (bigger cables; thick, precision-cut mounting bracket) , and it seems like more engineering went into it.
 
Bill Crowell said:
LA engine, TF 727 and Thermoquad here. I started out with a Lokar throttle and kickdown cable kit, but I don't think they provide you with a replacement kickdown lever, and the stock lever doesn't have the correct geometry, so I don't think the Lokar kickdown worked right. Eventually I bought a Bouchillon Performance cable kit and Randy Bouchillon held my hand when I installed it. Super nice guy. Now I don't mean to mistakenly badmouth Lokar, so if they offer the correct kickdown lever please let me know. Not only does the Bouchillon kit provide the correct kickdown lever, but it is also quite a bit more substantial than the Lokar kit (bigger cables; thick, precision-cut mounting bracket) , and it seems like more engineering went into it.
Click to expand...

What year is yours?
 
Romulo Roderiques said:
Hello,

Couldn't find much info for early a bodies on this. I've got a 65 Dart with 273 and A904 trans. I converted it to a four barrell carb with Edelbrock Performer. What has everyone done with their throttle cables and kickdown rod. Someone told me to install a throttle bracket from a 340 but it doesn't look like it will hook up to the rest of the firewall linkage. I've seen some after markets but they don't specify if it will work on the early Abodies.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

I put a four barrel on Mom's 64 Barracuda quite a while back. Car is gone now, so I don't have any pix. But the throttle cable mounts to a four barrel carb a bit more than an inch forward of the two barrel mounting point, so basically you just need to move the two barrel cable mounting point at the throttle bracket and lengthen the kickdown rod. If you have a welder, or a friend who has one, it's fairly simple to modify the two barrel throttle bracket and kickdown rod. Just disconnect the cable from the throttle bracket at the rear of the intake, hook the cable to the carb (you do have the Edelbrock Mopar adapter, don't you?), then pull it back until just before the carb opens at all. That's where the cable should mount to the bracket. Cut and weld the OEM bracket to move the mounting point to where it need to be and that's that. For the kickdown, just measure how much it needs to be lengthened to connect to the carb, then cut the factory rod, weld in a piece of rod the same diameter with the length you need and presto! The amount of extra length is not critical, as there is a rather large range of adjustment built in. Once it's together, double check that the kickdown rod lets the carb come back to idle and that the rod is not so long that it blocks full throttle.

To me, that is so much easier than messing with Lokar or Bouchillon I don't know why people bother with them. Maybe because they don't have welders? Hell, mine's just a stick welder that's been in the family since 1975. Some stuff is tricky to weld, but the linkage mentioned above is easy.

You can also use a 340 throttle bracket, but you'll have to modify the 340 kickdown linkage to work in a 65 Dart with 904. My 65 Barracuda's a four speed so I didn't have to worry about kickdown. (My RPM Air Gap intake is taller than the stock 340 intake. I could have put a taller throttle bracket on it, but despite the upward angle of the cable, it works as is without binding, so I've left it alone. I did put a tall bracket on a big block I have with the RPM intake.)

20200104_210345.jpg
 
Wow, what a treasure trove of information, 65 Cuda 340! You've really got it all figured out. I hope the webmaster makes this a sticky.
 
You could also try to find a factory '65 4bbl A-body kickdown setup. With your aftermarket intake, you may still have to slightly modify something. Same goes for some aftermarket carbs. The differences between the factory 2bbl and 4bbl are mainly the bell crank that bolts to the back of the head, the throttle cable bracket, return spring bracket, and the threaded forward rod connector. The actual rod is the same. As mentioned, the throttle cable is different too. Re-bending, cutting and changing lengths are what would be needed to convert one to the other. The '66 setup should work with the same mods possibly needed too, but, it's slightly different than the '65 setup due to the change in transmissions from '65 to '66.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top