I did a search but didn't find the answer. I just replaced a 600 Holley with a 600 Summit carb, both with the Ford kickdown levers. With both setups, the adjusting screw for the kickdown doesn't make contact until the throttle is half open. Is that OK? I would prefer that the upshifts with light throttle would occur later but saw Pauls' thread saying that very early upshifts are normal for the C4. I may do the trick to get later upshifts with light throttle someday but for now I just want to know if its OK for the kickdown rod to not move for the first half of the throttle movement.
The "kick-down rod doesn't move until the throttle is advanced more than half way. That is normal. The adjustment is with wide open throttle there should be less than .060" travel in the rod (throttle wide open and rod pushed all the way down). I prefer .030" or less but the idea is that you don't stop the throttle with the kick-down linkage. If you want to get later shifts without hurting your C4 then use the longest rod available with the modulator. (1 5/8" long for push-in modulators and 1 3/4" long for screw-in modulators and C5 transmissions) The rods can be made from 8d nails, as the metal is rigid enough and the right diameter. I have heard of some who made the rods from wire coat hangers but I would avoid this as the steel is not the right diameter and I think it might bend under some circumstances which may cause no shift or very early shifts depending on when it hangs up.
