[Garret 68]

Hi, I am new to this forum and would appreciate some advice. In the spring I purchased a 68 Malibu. It has a 307 and a 2 speed powerglide. It is a matching numbers car and is stock with one exception. The previous owner had changed out the original 2 bbl rochester and manifold and replace it with a stock chevy 4 bbl manifold and quadrajet carb. The manifold # 346250 is from a 76-82 305/350 4bbl. When I punch the gas it sounds like the secondaries are kicking in but not very responsive. Upon further inspection I discovered that there is no kickdown linkage from the carb or trans. It also does not have the z bar (bell crank). If my memory serves me right, shouldn't this car have one regardless if it has a 2 bbl or 4 bbl carb? Does anyone know? If so are they different for a 2 or 4 bbl carb. Thanks for any help that you can provide. Love this forum and I'm just glad to be back in a car hobby. Had a great summer with this Malibu........Garret

 

[Verle]

Welcome to the forum. Post some pictures of your car.

I think your car should have the kick down linkage.

There should be a bell crank bolted to two of the bell housing bolts with a rod to the transmission and a rod to the carburetor.

The only difference may be the length of the rod to the carburetor.

Here is a picture of what you need, less the adapter and flex plate.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHEVROLET-V...Parts_Accessories&hash=item58a54c22a7&vxp=mtr

Keep watch on fleabay, you should be able to find what you need for a reasonable price.
Maybe someone here has an extra laying around.

 

[Garret 68]

Thanks for the info. I will post some pics soon! Your car is absolutely beautiful! I hope to find the bell crank and linkage rods while i'm in Hersey Pa in October. This way I can check it out before I buy. If I can't find one there i'll shop on-line. Do you know if the bell crank was year and model specific, or were they the same part with different length linkage rods? Thanks again for your help.....Garret

 

[CoolBlueGlow]

66-67 have accelerator rod and shaft arrangements. 68 is a cable. I can therefore almost guarantee you that the PG kick down linkage for 67 and earlier is different than your 68...but check the AIM or a 68 expert to be double sure. The world ends for me after 67...

 

[Garret 68]

Thanks for your response Keith. My accelerator has a cable, but I didn't know if the kickdown would have a cable or rod linkage. Right now I have nothing to compare. The car is missing all kickdown linkage and bell crank. I will continue checking, thanks again........Garret

 

[sglide]

I have worked on a few original 68s with the Powerglide. The kickdown is a rod set-up, and there are 2 different lengths, a longer one for the 2 bbl and a shorted one for the 4bbl. In June 2012, we finished the 2 year restoration of a 68 El Camino. We had switched from the stock 307 (originally a 2bbl and converted to a 4 bbl about 10 years ago) to a 68 327/factory 4bbl motor. Initially, we used the kickdown rod from the 2bbl, primarily because it was handy. There had an added stop (a nut and bolt) part of the way down the slot that connects to the carb. When we did the initial 4bbl conversion on the 307, we had added the stop. Ten years later when we did the 327 change over,we could not remember why we had added the stop, so we removed it because it was not shown in the Assembly or MX manuals for the 68. This would turn out to be a major goof-up that led to 6 hours of trial-and-error adjustments that went nowhere! We had a dickens of a time trying to get the trans to kick down with that rod. We took the car out on the highway, got up to a cruising speed and nailed the gas pedal in an effort to get it to kick down. When it didn't kick down, we would pull over and adjust the rod, and then do it again. We did it continuously until we used up the entire thread length without getting it to kick down. When we went back to the shop adn thought this through. The lightbulb went on; we had the stop in there for a reason. SInce we had the other kickdown from the 327/4bbl setup somewhere in the shop, we decided to find it to see if there was a difference, and there was. The original one for the 327/4bbl motor was shorter. In hindsight, we had figured that out years before. That is why we had put a stop nut and bolt in the first kickdown rod back when we converted the 2bbl to a factory 4bbl set up. Both of us being "chronologically enhanced" (Old men!), we had forgotten this issue.

Here is info from the 1968 Assembly Manual about the 2 different rods for the SB motors. Check out the Assembly manual in section M-35, page A-19. PN 380310 for the 307 *(a factory 2 bbl) and PN 3904060 for the L-30 and L73 327s (4bbl motors).

 

[Garret 68]

Thanks for yor post Ralph. Very funny story, sounds like something I would do! The info you provided was very specific and that was a big help. One of my next purchases will be a 1968 assembly manual. The part numbers you provided helped me narrow a search on e-bay. I think I found what I need from the Heartbeat City site, their part number TRN-1178. I will call them to verify. Thanks......Garret

 

[71350SS]

Welcome to TC.

 

[Professor_SS]

anyone have a pic of the kick down linkage on a 70 small block/glide. putting one back together and know I have that rod in my collection, but need help ID.n it and putting it in

thanks

 

[BlueSS454]

All Powerglides have mechanical kickdown linkage. There is a bellcrank assembly that bolts on the trans via the bellhousing bolts on the driver side. Then there are a series of rods that snap on to ball studs on the carb and trans to connect them.

 

[sglide]

Rick, the 1970 Assembly Manual for the PG trans with the V-8 (Section M-35, page A-14) shows the same PN as the 68 307/2bbl - PN 3904254. Here is what it looks like on the NPD website - http://www.npdlink.com/store/products/chevelle_rod_kick_down_linkage_upper-115382-7997.html. If you are using this with a 4bbl carb, be advised that you may have to put a stop in yours at the carb end to shorten the slot as the Assembly Manual does not show one for a 1970 with a PG trans and a 4bbl carb, or order one specifically for a 4bbl car, like this one - http://www.npdlink.com/store/products/chevelle_rod_kick_down_linkage_upper-115383-7997.html.

 

[blue55]

Garret, I converted my '68 wagon from 307/power glide to 350/700r4 and you can have kick down linkage for cost of shipping. PM me with address

 

[Professor_SS]

Thanks Ralph, Took this apart over 7 years ago, then a death in the family caused it to sit all this time. really struggling getting it back together. I appreciate your help

Rick

Rick, the 1970 Assembly Manual for the PG trans with the V-8 (Section M-35, page A-14) shows the same PN as the 68 307/2bbl - PN 3904254. Here is what it looks like on the NPD website - http://www.npdlink.com/store/products/chevelle_rod_kick_down_linkage_upper-115382-7997.html. If you are using this with a 4bbl carb, be advised that you may have to put a stop in yours at the carb end to shorten the slot as the Assembly Manual does not show one for a 1970 with a PG trans and a 4bbl carb, or order one specifically for a 4bbl car, like this one - http://www.npdlink.com/store/products/chevelle_rod_kick_down_linkage_upper-115383-7997.html.