Why the performer intake? Well, I believed the ad in the mopar car mags back 8 years ago or so when Edelbrock was showing significant increases in hp and torque when the performer intake and carb were teamed together. As to whether it helped, that's anybody's guess. Bouchillon makes a kickdown linkage system, but it's megabucks and I'm hoping to find a cheaper way. Thanks for the tips. I may just weld a 2" piece of rod steel in the middle. I was even thinking of cutting the rod in half, then slipping a hollow steel rod over the break, adjusting it to the correct length, then crimping it. That way I could always restore it to its original length. I was just hoping that perchance the BB rod was sufficient. Guess it's not.