By the way, I bought this car from oldspackrat. Thanks man! 1972 Cutlass Supreme 442. The car came from the factory with a 350 4 bl. It now has a 455 mated to a TH400. There is no kickdown hardware. I've done some numbers checking and here is what I found. Engine casting 396021 F (serif type), Ga heads (W30?), exhaust manifold left has W, right has Z. Cast iron intake, Carb 7041257 which means it came on a manual car I believe. All numbers point to this engine as a '72 I think? My question: I need to use a carburetor for an automatic correct? Buy the correct kickdown components and put on the car? Brackets, switch or cable? What do I need for the transmission? Electric choke? Thanks for any help.

 

Oldspackrat or one of the other guys probably has, if necessary, gas pedal assy and switch that mounts to it. Then all you need is to run a power wire to the switch and connect the wire to your transmission. The carb has nothing to do with it.

 

The TH400 uses an electric solenoid in the trans and a switch mounted above the accelerator pedal inside the car. The wiring will already be in the harness. You just need the switch and mounting bracket, and plug everything in.

The only number that matters as far as finding the year of the motor is the VIN derivative stamp on the block. GA heads were used on every single 455 built in the 1972 model year, from 2bbl motors to W-30s. They may be big valve or they may be small valve, depending on where they originally came from. The only way to tell is to pull the heads and measure the valves.

 

Okay I did find the switch on the pedal, it was stuck and sprung back when I touched it. Does that mean it is bad? Where is the solenoid on the tranny? The carb needs rebuilt and I talked to a guy, he said I needed one for an automatic, I assumed there were some different vacuum connections or something. So I will just have this one rebuilt if it makes no difference, after all, it is original to this engine I believe.

 

The solenoid is inside the trans, bolted to the valve body. You need to drop the pan to access it. There is an electrical connector on the driver's side of the trans. Depending on the year of the TH400, it will have one or two terminals. A 1972 TH400 should have the connector with two terminals. One is for the kickdown, the other is for the Transmission Controlled Spark system.

If your switch is sticking, try spraying into the switch with electrical contact cleaner. There is some grease in the switch and that can harden or get sticky over time. The carb you have will be fine.

 

A light shot of WD40 on the slides works well after the contact cleaner. I have devised a way of making these somewhat adjustable if you find its not kicking down at the speed you want it to.

 

I found the stamping after some investigative work and help from my iphone, far from where a Chevrolet ID pad is. 32M220906 (96,435 later than my vin). I knew it was not the original engine but it does look like it's a '72 engine built in Lansing and came in an A-body car. The oil fill tube number 2614073, intake U 410448, heads Ga, W and Z exhaust manifolds.....all appear to point to this engine coming from another Cutlass correct? The carb has a julian date code of 40th day 1971. Is this too far of a lead time to be correct to the engine? http://s955.photobucket.com/user/mco..._1092.jpg.html

I'm attaching a photo of the ID stamp location on an Olds 455 engine to help the next guy find it. http://s955.photobucket.com/user/mco...20pad.png.html

 

 

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