My old 37 Dodge Rat-Rod has a 440 and 727 tranny. "yep, its fun "
There is no kickdown linkage on the thing. Can I get by just by moving the kickdown lever down on the tranny back about 1/2 way or so and securing it ? I know the correct way is to install a linkage ,
Thanks
Donnie

Sure you can do that , it will screw with the shift points and eventually you will burn up the front clutch pack , but it's more fun to just half bleep something and cruise around .

Go for it .

Is that the answer you were looking for ?

Either put the THROTTLE VALVE (pressure) Linkage or switch it to a manual shift only valave body ....

Sure you can if you don't love your transmission and don't want it to last very long. That linkage governs the throttle pressure and there for the sift points of the transmission.

I just got the thing and I'm sorting thru some issues with it. The rear main was puking oil like crazy , I just replaced the rear seal and now no more leak.
The radiator was from an old junk yard car and stop leak was the only thing keeping fluid in it . I just ordered a new radiator and electric fan so that I would not worry about leaks or overheating , that would also position the grille in the correct location instead of where it was at , about 6" above the cowl.
I had to install a windshield wiper for it with all the Ohio rains we are having this year . Next is tires , I want to get rims while I'm at it.
I was hoping to postpone the investment on the linkage for awhile so that I could do some cruising with it while my 68 Cuda is in the body shop.
And no........... I don't want to burn up a tranny , that's why I ask on this site. I'm not worried about shift points in this thing , I usually shift in manually , what few times Ive driven it .

Here's what I'm waiting on for paint , then the 505 stroker gets fitted till then , the rat rod will be the cruiser.
Donnie

Just get a Lokar shift cable.

What Dean said. Takes maybe 30 minutes and your trans will thank you. Whether you manually shift or not, makes no difference, unless you had a full manual valve body.

If you are just cruising around-town ...with no WOT "hits" ...I would just tie-it-back a third of the way back and just take it EZ. I would eventually find the proper linkage though.

O R ..... go with a manual VB.

Donnie I'd heard you could go ~1/2 back for a temp solution for brief drives & I did it once on a 318-904 dd & did good/no trans life shortening issues (that I was aware of at the time) but I would wait for Kunkel to come to for the final word. I really like that rat rod & when the cuda is done you should email me & see if we can work a deal so I can take it off your hands (it fits my personality) plus it'll free up some cash to finish out the cuda