Hi, first post from a long time reader. I've recently converted the throttle linkage on my '65 Barracuda from the torque rod to a '77 Aspen Super 6 cable setup, The throttle action is now fine but the Aspen kickdown link rod doesn't seen to have enough travel to downshift my trans. The connector end is all the way at the end of the rod but I'm still having to manually downshift. Has anybody else dealt with this problem and cured it?

PatGR@mediaone.net

Thanks for "jumping in"....you may want to review the Hyper-pak linkage article, over in the articles section. This has some good info.

The linkage needs to do two things:
1) Pushs the trans kickdown lever all the way back when the carb is all the way open. (easy to check, have someone floor the gas, then with your hand, see if you can push the rod / lever back even more.

2) Needs to allow the carb. to close enough to allow proper idle speed. (this is where slotted links come in)

Note that the lever on the trans comes in different lengths, as well as some of the "links" in the system. You may have to swap or modify some pieces to get your system to work properly.
See the pic for the general idea.
DD