How do I do throttle rod adjustment on or off?

I've read the throttle rod adjustment on my 73 400-4bbl Charger with column shift automatic. I have the one piece kickdown/throttle rod. It says to push the retainer forward and the rod backward to remove all backlash and tighten the lockscrew, while the lever on the transmission is held forward. It doesn't really make it clear whether they want the engine running or off. It seems like it would be difficult to be under the car while it's running with the exhaust that close to youre ear. Is there an initial adjustment I can make so that I can make it to a shop for the fine tuning?

with it not runnig,make adjustments