I am in the process of pulling out my 904 transmission and wanting to make some changes. I want to go with a forward pattern manual valve body. Question is, when you go with a manual valve body, do you still need the drop down throttle linkage?

No.

You will know longer have any kickdown. Also most manual valve bodies have no engine braking in 1st gear deceleration. Just coast. Also while in coast in 1st DO NOT hit the gas or nasty internal damage can result. Some o fthe newer manual valve bodies do have 1st gear braking though but not sure which.

Man I am maybe need to do a 4 speed conversion or some other conversion because these 904 setups I have no luck with. This is my third time dropping this tranny for whatever reason it bust. I do not drive my Barracuda nearly as crazy at 53 years old as I drove my 70 Chevelle at 18 years old. My turbo 350 would take whatever I did whenever I did how I did. Needless to say I am a Mopar lover but have no love for this 904. I broke this tranny merely by putting it in reverse first, yea I forgot. I dont know much on manual valve bodies, but if there's no motor brake in 1st and have to coast, this may not be what I'm looking for, because if I'm coasting in 1st, it may just be time to get back in it. I need to get more info on bullet proof internals. Thx guys.

904s, 998s, 999s are tough when built right. We beat on a rebuilt junk yard 999 behind a warm 360 for years with no issues. The car would run low 8s in the 1/8. Not a rocket ship, but not too shabby either. So I suspect that the 904 is not the root of your problem.

Besides buying a FMVB, you can also get a shift kit that includes the manual shift option. That would save you a good amount of money and get you LBA at the same time.

I really like my 904. My Dart ran 11.06 in totally street trim with a W2 motor.
I just picked this motor up for the car and the 904 will be back in the car also.

I don't know what parts makes the 904 strong enough to handle me and 480 hp w/525 torque who is willing to drop the hammer at anytime. Any suggestions on any information from what is the good stuff to vendors would be greatly appreciated. This is a street car that will be at the track every now & then for test & tune. I don't know the pro's and cons of manual valve bodies vs a stock style VB.