• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

65 904 Kickdown and throttle cable mod for new Elderbrock Carb on high rise manifold

Putort

Member
Local time
1:35 PM
Joined
Mar 5, 2019
Messages
8
Reaction score
3
Location
SC
Hello Fellow B Body owners!
First time posting here but have been reading and using many of your threads during my 65 Belvedere II rebuild. This site has been a HUGE help!

I’m nearing the end and trying to adjust the kickdown and throttle cable on my new setup but as expected neither are lining up due to the height and distance, being too short.
The 1965 904 Tranny is stock and the 318 is off a 1970.
Motor is all rebuilt and I added a Weiand hose rise manifold with an Elderbrock 4bbl carb. Bought the adapter bracket for carb but still won’t line up. I read in an earlier post that I may be able to use the linkage and bracket off a 340/360. If so, what year/s would fit my application? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

A01C98F5-B2A9-4919-A26C-7735A5CE4A93.jpeg 70A76F42-5717-4BE7-8D5D-FAD6F1B8DEE4.jpeg
 
I'm a use what ya got kinda guy. In the photo I made a bracket for the return springs. Mounted the kick down spring forward. Align the kick down rod in toward the carb. In your photo you have it way out on the end. Also you can bend the bracket that bolts to the manifold for better alignment.Is it factory ? Nope, but it works.
IMG_2649.jpg
 
I'm a use what ya got kinda guy. In the photo I made a bracket for the return springs. Mounted the kick down spring forward. Align the kick down rod in toward the carb. In your photo you have it way out on the end. Also you can bend the bracket that bolts to the manifold for better alignment.Is it factory ? Nope, but it works.View attachment 1053215

Thanks Darter6....
I see your kickdown rod has threads on it. Did you make that or is that factory? also, did you have to get a longer throttle cable? I made an extension on mine to make it long enough?
 
69BEE is right. You need the correct linkage adapter from Edelbrock. If it is the right one then all should fit.
I am using the same intake and carb as you.
The photo is from a factory 1968 set up. Only difference is yours has a slide instead of thread.
Same throttle cable as the 2bbl that was on the car.
Nice 65 in your avatar by the way..
 
Thank you all!
I’ll keep playing with it and make some more mods. Appreciate all the feedback.

This has been a 3 year project... Looking forward to getting it on the road!
 
Welcome to the fold buy the way.. Lots of good guys and info here.
 
It can be a pain to deal with, this kick down is on a 1964.

linkagecloseup.jpg
Its
 
Putort,Looking at your photo, it looks like your bracket to manifold is in the wrong place.
Too far forward. Mine is back,closer toward the firewall.I have another car at the shop I'll post photos of it later.
 
Here is a few pictures of the setup on my 64 Belvedere wagon with a 440.
I'm using the Edelbrock Performer carb mounted on a Performer RPM intake.
I had to eliminate the the factory linkages due to the increased height of the intake.
I went with the Lokar throttle cable, kickdown cable and mounting bracket to solve the problem.
As you can see in the pictures. I added the #1481 throttle lever adapter to the carb, but it really was not needed.
I know Lokar gets trashed a lot, but the setup you see here worked good for me.

100_5043.JPG 100_5044.JPG P1040137.JPG
 
Last edited:
Here is a few pictures of the setup on my 64 Belvedere wagon with a 440.
I'm using the Edelbrock Performer carb mounted on a Performer RPM intake.
I had to eliminate the the factory linkages due to the increased height of the intake.
I went with the Lokar throttle cable, kickdown cable and mounting bracket to solve the problem.
As you can see in the pictures. I added the #1481 throttle lever adapter to the carb, but it really was not needed.
I know Lokar gets trashed a lot, but the setup you see here worked good for me.

View attachment 1053514 View attachment 1053515 View attachment 1053517
That looks awesome!
Was the Lokar cable/brackets a pain to install and get the lever on the tranny adjusted correctly?
 
A few more photos for you.The second photo I used a Spectre universal throttle cable.I was in a hurry and forgot the cable housing end
cap cover.I didn't want to remove the set screw then re-tighten in fear of shearing the cable strands. Oh well..
The kick down rod was lengthened using a Edelbrock adapter.Top photo is a Indy Cylinder Head bracket to manifold with cable KD.
IMG_0001.jpg


IMG_0002.jpg
 
I did have to drill a hole in board on the trany kickdown lever to mount the cable attaching post. This was needed to get the correct lever travel with the amount of cable travel that the carb linkage was giving me.
As you can see in the pictures that I also installed a "return" spring and hooked one end of it in the original factory lever hole.

100_5048.JPG 100_5051.JPG
 
I did have to drill a hole in board on the trany kickdown lever to mount the cable attaching post. This was needed to get the correct lever travel with the amount of cable travel that the carb linkage was giving me.
As you can see in the pictures that I also installed a "return" spring and hooked one end of it in the original factory lever hole.

View attachment 1053913 View attachment 1053914
Interesting... Thanks for the info...Until recently, I wasn’t aware how important it is to have the travel/proper kickdown ... When I first took this apart I made the assumption that it was for passing gear only.. Boy was I wrong...
 
Sometimes a little old school hot rodding goes a long way.
 
The problem with the "kick down" adjustment when using a cable is often that there is not is not enough travel in the cable when going from idle to full throttle.
When I first installed my cable, I was told to make sure the the arm on the tranny is all the way back when the carb is at full throttle. I did that, but the 2-3 shift was holding tool long. The problem was that when at idle the lever on the tranny was not all the way back in the forward position.
By drilling the new inboard hole in the arm and mounting the cable attachment point there. I was able to get full arm travel when going from idle to full throttle.
 
The problem with the "kick down" adjustment when using a cable is often that there is not is not enough travel in the cable when going from idle to full throttle.
When I first installed my cable, I was told to make sure the the arm on the tranny is all the way back when the carb is at full throttle. I did that, but the 2-3 shift was holding tool long. The problem was that when at idle the lever on the tranny was not all the way back in the forward position.
By drilling the new inboard hole in the arm and mounting the cable attachment point there. I was able to get full arm travel when going from idle to full throttle.
Man that’s good to know..and a simple fix
 
Man that’s good to know..and a simple fix

went with the Lokar cables... Looks pretty good.. Had to get creative with spring for kickdown as I have a mound in front of the bracket on the intake manifold. I’m going to add the spring underneath tonight to the tranny Lever as well before trying her out.

39F92197-79AB-4E56-BDE6-BCE3BD1B6881.jpeg
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top