I read the original question and took it at face value. A STREET rod. with a MILD 350, that's all. I still maintain that it's not that hard to hook up a detent cable.
I DO however see your point.
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. "Dollars are like votes, except that they actually count."
This thread has been dead for seven years. I sure hope the OP got his issue resolved by now. What is your question, specifically. TH350s came from the factory with a detent cable. There are about a bazillion aftermarket cables and brackets for any carb or EFI system you can imagine, not to mention a similar number of factory cables and brackets.
Yes, if you have an auto trans that won't downshift when you stomp on the gas, that's kinda silly. Especially considering it's an easy fix.
Joe's right about all the cable and bracket selections on the market. And many of the cables have adjustable length, and the brackets are adjustable for height above the manifold.
what most people don't know is that your "kick-down" linkage does more than just shift into a lower gear. It actually increases pressure so the frictions can hold the power of the gear change. It also modifies the pressure even when there is no down-shift involved. It isn't as critical as a throttle valve cable but it does perform some of the same functions. To remove it safely you will need to increase apply pressures across the whole range. This is what a manual shift valve body does. The modulator and governor assist the "kick-down" linkage (or the other way around) but I have seen transmissions burned up from not having the "kick-down" linkage connected.
Lets face it, if it wasn't required, the car manufacturers could save a lot of money deleting it.
what most people don't know is that your "kick-down" linkage does more than just shift into a lower gear. It actually increases pressure so the frictions can hold the power of the gear change. It also modifies the pressure even when there is no down-shift involved.
I was pretty sure the detent cable did more than just kick-down the trans to a lower gear. I had one once that was loose, and adjusting it properly made the shifts happen a little later and a little firmer, similar to adjusting the modulator.
I don't use a kick down at all on my blown sbc. I really don't want or need it. The last thing I need is for the trans to down shift going around freeway ramps. I just use throttle ...gently as required.
The adjustable modulator is all I've ever used for tuning. You can force an up shift by easing up on the gas and watching the vacuum/boost gage.
I don't have full manual either although I can manually shift it. It's more throttle position, really noticeable going up a steep hill. Otherwise it works nicely with just firm shifts. The converter softens them around town so it is easy to drive and live with.
I have a turbo 350 on two performance builds and I hooked up the cables like you see there and get good brackets but they always end up breaking all the time and I just took them both and cut the cable short and don't bother to even use them. If you look at a lot of the rebuilt transmissions like from summit and jegs a lot of them don't even have the kick down function on them. Both of mine have been fine for over 16 years on the one.
Actually the cable broke and I was trying to decide if I should replace it.
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