missing kickdown linkage

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waynej21

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lake worth fl
i recently bought a 74 duster,318 and 904, and i noticed the kickdown assembly was missing. all signs point to it being built as a drag car, (big ugly tach, fender well headers,4bbl edelbrock and edelbrock rpm airgap intake installed). Everything down to the linkage arms on the trans. is missing. is it possible they did this because a manual valve body was installed? if so how can i tell? it does run and drive but i havent driven it but around my 5 acre property. no highway speeds.
 
you should be able to tell if it's an manual valvebody by seeing/feeling it shift any time you move the shifter to a diffrent gear.
Actually, you would feel it shift sitting still and changing shifter positions.
 
If it's a manual valve body it'll shift real firm. If it's not a manual valve body it'll probably shift real mushy since the throttle pressure linkage (that's actually the proper name for it) is missing. Some manual valve bodies have the stem that the throttle pressure linkage lever slips onto cut off so there's no way you could put linkage on it.
 
Thanks for the replies! yea when i put it into drive, you feel it shift really firm. the whole car shakes but from drive to the other gears you dont feel much. The man i bought it from said he drove it for months with not throttle pressure linkage and i was under the impression the trans would be toast by now.
 
waynej21 said:
Thanks for the replies! yea when i put it into drive, you feel it shift really firm. the whole car shakes but from drive to the other gears you dont feel much. The man i bought it from said he drove it for months with not throttle pressure linkage and i was under the impression the trans would be toast by now.
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You wouldn't feel much changing gears sitting still, but you should feel it chage gears if it's a manual valve body.
It could be driven for monthes without the TP hooked up if you drove it real easy.
 
Thanks mopar but if i realize i do need it im just gonna go with the lokar setup. and thanks again trailbeast.
 
waynej21 said:
If I drop the tranny pan would i be able to tell? Would it look different than a normal valve body?
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Like I mentioned earlier (post #4)

Some manual valve bodies have the stem that the throttle pressure linkage lever slips onto cut off so there's no way you could put linkage on it. You can tell this just by looking at where the throttle pressure linkage arm attaches to the valve body right above the shift linkage arm.

As for telling by dropping the pan and just looking at the valve body probably not. I have only seen a few manual valve bodies and they were all factory valve bodies that a company (TCI, etc) modified. They generally put their name and their part # stamped on it somewhere but sometimes it's on the top side so you won't see it by just dropping the pan, you may have to drop the valve body also and look on top.
 
thanks fishy. yea the rod that the linkage slides onto is still there, just the arms that go on it are missing. thanks for the help!
 
if the rod is there rotate it. If it has a spring back feeling it is not a manual valve body. If you move it and it does not spring back you have either a manual valve body or a broken standard valve body. As another poster suggested, while driving around without throttle pressure linkage can burn up a torqueflite, it is not a given. It really does depend on how its driven.
 
well i finally got around to checking out the valve body and it seems as though it is a manual valve body (or a broken standard valve body lol) i keep finding more and more things done to this car. thanks for all the input guys!
 
I bought both mine straight from Lokar - But Summit and Jegs carry it - also they're universal as far as engine/trans (no specific kit for a 318/904) it fits every Mopar engine/trans - I bought 1 for my 70 340 Dart and currently have the other mounted in my Demon's 1bbl slant 6 cause I kept it from the 4bbl it had..
 
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