im about to swap a 454 and a th400 in my 83z and i keep hearing about a kickdown switch, and im stupid when it comes to transmissions...

 

the kickdown switch downshifts the tranny when you get on the gas hard. passing gear. i don't know how it knows when you are going too fast for a downshift, though.

 

It supplies power to the kickdown solenoid. It has nothing to do with how fast you're going, only how far the gas pedal is pushed.

Go to the junkyard and take a look at the gas pedal bracket in the interior of some full-size GM cars from the late 60s that have Turbo 400s. That would be any Chevy, Buick, Pontiac, Olds, or Cadillac with an engine of 400 CID or larger. A picture is worth 1000 words. You'll understand it when you see it, trust me this time.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

You don't need one in a hydraulicly controlled tranny.

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82 z28 350cid, vortec heads, comp 262h cam, Holley 600cfm carb, 2in twice pipes, MSD ignition, turbo 350 trans, 3.73 posi, manly b&m megashifter

 

Gotta have one with a 400, otherwise no hard kickdown. 350s use a cable, 400s use a solenoid.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

im still kinda in the dark about the kickdown switch... i now understand what it does... but im not sure how to hook it up...

the th400 i bought has what looks like a solenoid attached to the shifter bracket, and its got 4 wires hooked to it... what do i hook these up with, and should i get the b&m kickdown switch...

im going to the mall tommorrow to see if books-a-million has any good th400 books... anyone have any good suggestions?

 

Go to the junkyard and look at some old sleds from the 60s. All will instantly become clear. One look is worth 1000 posts.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports