Step 4. The Proper Kit Down Linkage
This is a very important step. The kickdown is necessary to regulate the valve body pressure within the transmission. In order for the transmission to shift hard with little overlap, you need full pressure or the bands will slip under acceleration. While cruising, excessive pressure is unneccesary and can cause a lot of heat buildup in the transmission. The proper kickdown linkage can save a freshly rebuilt tranny and have it live a long happy life.
The only time you don't need a kickdown is is your tranny is built with a fully manual valve body. This means that each gear must be selected because the automatic features have been eliminated. Since there is no automatic action within the transmission, the kickdown becomes irelevant and unneccessary. This is usually only built into a race only transmission.
Chrysler Had two different kick down rod assemblies available.
One used a solid bent rod with adjustments at the transmission.
The other used a three piece rod assembly with two pivot points and an adjustment at the transmission.
Either one can be used but one has ceratin advantages to the other.
The one piece seems to be easier to fine. The problem with this is it sometimes doesn't clear the lip creacted where the firewall and floor pan meets. This lip can be banged flat to allow the rod full travel. It is much easier to do this when the engine is out. It can be done with the engine in if you use a long solid metal rod and a hammer from underneath to flatten the lip.
The best set up is the three piece. It allows full movement of the kickdown lever with no modification. It is important to not that you need to have the pivot bracket on the transmission before installation. There is little room between the header collector and the transmission to try and bolt it up after the transmission is in.
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