Hi all,

Been a while since Ive been online. I finished my restore about 3 years ago, and been drivin but knew that my throttle linkage was never really right. I finally compared it to a friend with the same carb (1406) and realized that my secondaries were never opening. Please check the pics. I fabricated the bar that connects the kick down rod to the linkage. Not sure where I got the dimensions, it does work for kicking down, but I'm thinking the slot is not long enough to allow the throttle to fully travel backwards. If I disconnect the rod, then the throttle does open fully and open the secondaries. I'm just not sure about when the kick down should engage/disengage.

This was a 318 2bbl/904, I swapped in a 360 4bbl and kept the 904. The kick down rod is original.

I always understood the service manuals to to say that your kickdown linkage should be pushed all the way back when your throttle was open all the way. I would disconnect the bar from the carb linkage, push the kickdown linkage all the way back, then push your carb linkage all the way open and see where it goes to on your kickdown bar. You will probably find that the stud on your carb linkage will require the slot on your bar to be longer. That should get you close to where you need to be.

Makes sense, this is what I was thinking as well.

If you cant get it figured out, i have seen kits at mancini racing for aftermarket intake/carbs.

FSM never said that. Adjustment is made with the carb at curb idle and the trans lever full forward. From the pics I see that the slot in the top link isn't pulled up against the rear of the throttle stud...it should be, so that the linkage starts to move rearward with the slightest throttle opening.

Sorry but I don't think anyone can tell you how to fix or adjust that. That is a mix of old and new and home made.

I would remove it all and stick to one model year and use that linkage. Now you can buy the whole thing repo and have the right parts.

When you go from 2 to 4 barrels what you need to do is move the throttle cable up and forward when you go to a 4 barrel and use the right mopar adaptor on the carb.

Check these out, Mopar throttle cable clamps. They bolt on a 2 barrel throttle bracket and provides the correct cable mounting location for connection to a 4 barrel mopar throttle linkage. This works if your cable is long enough.
They bolt on and move the cable up and forward and you don't have to do what you did above... All you have to do is move the cable clamp, and modify one piece of trans linkage.

John, what I was trying to get at was that the kickdown linkage has to be far enough back that his carb can open fully. On all the ones I've adjusted over the years, when the carb is wide open, the trans linkage is usually pushed most of the way back. I agree that the linkage should be spring loaded and pulled forward at curb idle so that it moves with the throttle. I got tired of messing with the factory stuff(mostly because I could never find a matched set) and use a kickdown cable on all my vehicles. I put the spring down on the arm at the trans and run the cable, hooked behind it and up to my carb. Great for vehicles where space is tight.

I didn't read everything but if you swapped in a shorter spring to pull the slot forward would that take care of it?

Anybody else notice the angle of the round rod that goes from the intake mounted lower bracket up to the kickdown link bar? If you look at the pic that John posted showing the factory linkage, with the throttle closed the rod is leaned forward, towards the "10 o'clock" angle. As the throttle is pressed, the link bar goes back, with the rod usually ending up at about the 2 o'clock angle. Yours is already starting at the 1 o'clock angle - it has very limited travel rear-wards when the throttle is opened. I always tried to have that rod straight up and down when the throttle was half open. IMO I would start by correcting this before I went further.

Here's my stock 360 setup. You can see what E.S. is saying about the round rod being out of position to start.
Terry

I realize the component mix is incorrect but it could be made to work by correcting the leverage ratios. As it is, it appears that the trans lever is full forward and that is preventing the top rod from coming up against the throttle stud.

aren't those setups adjustable on the lever attachment at the transmission by loosening the screw on the attachment block, then lengthening/shortening the rod through the attachment block ? the flat bar at the carb could also be modified by drilling another hole for the pivot link if the bar is long enough to do so. another idea is to take an adjustable, early round rod and cut it to an appropriate, usable length, then weld it to the flat bar. this could also be the easiest way to possibly get closer to the correct ratio needed. just a couple quick ideas off the top of my head.

Some one-piece rods adjust at the trans lever and some adjust at the top near the U-link.