hey guys, I have a 70 cutlass 350, 2bbl with TH350 trans. Kick-down cable had been busted and disconnected at the pedal for many years. I installed a new OPGI cable. I have been through the adjustments and also have read through the many threads here on this fantastic forum.
My cable is the one that connects to the gas pedal. No problem installing and I have done the adjustments numerous times. As I understand it, when you mash the pedal , its supposed to drop down into 2nd gear (passing gear). The issue I am having is that when Im cruising and I want to hit the passing gear, it feels and sounds like it goes into first gear, very high reving and almost feels like it is slipping. I instantly let off. But I know that all my gears are fine as far as normal shifting through 1,2 and 3. No problems with any of that. Am I still fighting an adjustment issue? Is it possible that its going into first gear instead of second due to still being out of adjustment?
In short, the kickdown feels like it comes in at the the correct time, but feels like it drops to first instead of 2nd. Hope that makes some sense. Any suggestions, or just keep playing with the adjustment on that crazy gas pedal ball and shaft thing? The old original cable had the metal clip on the end that would slide. The new cable has the black plastic sleeve and the silver ball on the end of the cable. Thanks in advance.

 

It will kickdown a gear depending on the governor speed it could possibly go to 1st if the car is moving slow enough. Depending on what rear gears you have, (higher numerical rear gear) it could feel like a real boost.

 

Rule of thumb is the kickdown cable travel should max out at WOT. If the trans, governor, gear ratio, tote size, has been changed, then you may need to play around with adjustment to find a “happy spot”. These cars are 50 years old, who knows what has been changed over the years.

With the cable unhooked, are the WOT shift points acceptable? If so, back off the adjustment of the kickdown cable. Ideally, if it makes a WOT 1-2 shift at say 40mph, it should make a 3-1 kickdown at maybe 30mph. The trans needs to spend enough time in 1st gear to accelerate the car before upshiftung.

 

Correct. My car with the original 2.56 rear gear would downshift to 1st at speeds up to 45 MPH or maybe even a bit more - it's been many years since I had those gears in the car so I don't recall exactly.