Hey all, Last time I did an acceleration run in my Dodge I noticed that it's only shifting at 3800 rpms. To start I adjusted the kick down rod by manually holding the throttle WOT and pushed the rod all the way back so that the slotted rod was just up against the throttle stud at the maximum travel of the kick down lever on the trans and tightened down the adjusting bolt, I did check to make sure that the accelerator pedal is opening the throttle all the way, it is. So, do they make weight kits for the governors for a 727? I'd like to see it shift in the 4400-4700 RPM range.
I do have the intention of double-checking the adjustments of the kick-down this week.
Yes there is a Carburetor Kick-Down Rod to Transmission Linkage Adjustment --- that you did.
When a Transmission Pan and Transmission Filter is removed - one can see The Valve Body. This is what controls The Shifting RPM's.
--- Depending on which engine the vehicle was originally installed and which usage of The Vehicle ( Police - Towing - Performance ) related to which Valve Body was used ( The 904 and The 727's use the same part number ). ---
The Shift Points are related to Torque vs Horse Power because the thought/ plan is to have some power after the shift. Engines with a poor low end ability ( Performance Cam Shaft Spec's Caused ) will also have a higher RPM shifting point to "over-come" this issue.
If you Remove The Valve Body from any Dodge Van in a local pick and pull --- you will have A Different 1-2 and 2-3 Shift Point.
Yes,for small pressure line adjustments you can adjust the rods and the valve body,but Full Throttle upshifts are a different story. For that it will require a governor change to go up another 600-1000 rpms.
The trans in plain jane cars was governed to shift at 3800 rpm, right where the 2bbl carb engines ran out of steam from lack of air flow. Why do you think it was almost impossible to kill a 383 2bbl or a little 318 2bbl--they could never rev high enough to hurt themselves!
The HP cars had a 4500-5000 rpm governor that you can buy. To install you have to remove the tail shaft housing of the trans. I always found it easier to just shift it myself...
When i was getting into NHRA drag racing,one person i looked up to was a lady named Judy Lilly who ran from the later 60's till well into the 70's with Hemi power,until she switched to the 360 when she went on a full sponsorship with Direct Connection and Mopar performance. She had set numerous records and beat up alot of guys to win plenty of races. If you look at some in car shots of her..she always ran an auto and she always left it in "D". She went to the line staged,released the brake(before trans brakes) at about 4,800 and that hemi shifted all by itself at about 7,500. She didn't even touch the shifter. This was all to do with the governors and as i recall,Direct connection had a kit with different weights. I'm sure her weights were very light for this and i'm sure they played with these like we used to play with all the jets/needles,squirters etc. In a way i miss it,but man can you go off the rails with just one missed guess!
Joined: Sun Mar 28 2010, 10:07PM
Location: DFW, TX
Posts: 39
It's better to let the trans do the shifting as different parts of the gear set are engaged in "D1" and "L". Shift should be a little quicker when it's done by the transmission. That means messing with the governor weights/springs. Seems like the old Direct Connection Race Manual told how to do it? If not, you can buy the kit and "play" until it is correct for the vehicle.
Factory kickdown rod adjustments allow for normal shifts to be too early, by observation. Initial adjustment is for 2 turns preload at base hot idle. I added two more turns on our '66 Newport so it would accelerate better with less throttle in "fast traffic". I also learned to do a light throttle 3-2 manual downshift (which '72? and later did with a part-thorttle downshift themselves). On my '80 Newport 360 2bbl, I added a narrow plastic wire tie at the end of the slot on the kdown rod, as the adjustment on that car is "under the car". Worked fine.
On our then-new '72 Newport, we played with the adjustment on the kdown rod so it would not upshift into 3rd at 25mph, which meant that any further acceleration was "on the converter". Getting it to where it upshifted at about 30mph worked much better! Key rule of thumb for min-throttle shifts is to let it get into 3rd at about 1000 rpm (in third) . . . 25mph for 3.23s, 28-30 for 2.76s and 2.45s. This will also raise the light throttle upshifts higher so the car runs quicker with less throttle input needed, which makes the car feel better and use less gas.
