i am having a problem with my factory kickdown adjustment on a 727 bb trans. the car shifts from first to second gear but not third. if i disconnect the kickdown lever from the carb and shift it manually it will go into third. do i need to lengthen or shorten the linkage? believe it or not in 26 years and lots of cars i have never owned a car with a factory kickdown setup, most of my cars were 4 speeds or full race automatics, so any help would be appreciated.

If you have the 3 peice linkage here is how you adjust it. Step 1. remove the rod from pivot point that goies down to tranny. Get a drill bit. you'll see a hole in your pivot bracket. insert the drill bit through the bracket and pivot arm to lock it. Now adjust that lower rod that you took off the pivot earlier. adjust it so it will snap back on the pivit with out any downward pressure, in it's natural position. Step 2. remove the drill bit. Move throttle to wide open position. adjust the rod from throttle stud to pivot so you have apro 1/8 play. You don't want to jamb the rod down tight. At wide open throttle you should be able to push that rod aprox another 1/8 inch. Hook your return spring back up and go for a ride. If it shifts a tad to late adjust it for more end play. On the 3 peice set up that lower rod needs to be adjusted to get correct geomotry. Thats why you start with the drill bit in pivot. Thats why those holes are there.

thanks for the help. i am going to try it out tommorrow.

Set it so the kickdown linkage at the carb is pulled fully forward when you are at idle. You will have to shorten it to get to that point. That's where you want to start from anyway. If you have the kickdown linkage too "long" it can cause what you're getting, no 2-3 shift. Mine did this at first too because I thought the kickdown should be all the way to the back when the carb was at full throttle, well I thought wrong.

At WOT the rod should be allmost all the way back. You should have about an 1/8 inch play. return spring will hold it forward. This is why you need to adjust it right from thre beginning. If second rod is not adjusted properly then the geometry will be off. Set it up right the first time and your done. May only need a minor tweak to get the shift point where you personally like it.

Its not a "kickdown". Its called throttle pressure linkage

yeah, yeah ,yeah we hear your thoughts every time this subject comes up. We get it allready. Give it a rest. We all know what it means and what it does.

throttle pressure valve linkage

does more than "Just kicks down to 2nd"

the whole reason I went manual valve body

thanks for the help guys. i adjusted to rod about 7 1/16 back (shorter) and it shifts great. it is now set up with an 1/8 of play at full throttle like you said. i think i know why i was having the problem, the previous owner just had a threaded rod from the carb lever and when i put the carbs back on i had the correct bracket for the carb and put it on which moved it back a bit to the right spot but the threaded rod they had it hooked up to was a little more further forward.