im about to drop a 454 in my 83z... i bought the car with no engine or transmission... i later bought the 454 with a th400...

what all is it gonna take transmission wise, to do this? i know im gonna need to get a TH400 yoke and shorten the drive shaft, but i keep reading about kickdown switches and stuff, and i have no idea what that is...

any help would be greatly appreciated...

 

The 400 uses electric kickdown. All you need is some sort of switch mounted somewhere that the throttle linkage will hit it when floored. The factory mounted the switch in the car's interior on cars that came with that trans, on the throttle cable bracket. My 83's bracket actually still has a pad above it that would accomodate a switch. Look in the boneyard at 60s and 70s sleds for parts and ideas.

What you have to do to the driveshaft depends on which 400 output shaft you have. There are 3: long, med, & short. There is also a Turbo 375, which looks just like a 400 except it has a 350-size yoke. The thing to do is to figure out which trans you have, and get the yoke for it if it's really a 400, and if so also get the special u-joint. Then when you get the motor & trans in the car, just get a driveshaft cut or made to fit whatever you've got.

You'll have to come up with a torque arm bracket... they are available from the speed places for a Turbo 350, I have no idea whether they will clear a 400 or not. You will also need to alter your crossmember as the mount is in a different place.

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