I ordered a new kickdown rod to replace the broken one. I can’t find any sign of the rest of it, and it’s a pretty big piece that’s missing, so I can only assume it has been gone for quite a while. It’s not a very complicated piece, just a piece of wire with z-bends at the ends, but I didn’t have any wire that looked sturdy enough, so I just bought one.
Getting the rod threaded into the lever that engages the kickdown piston button inside the transmission was a bit of a challenge upside down under the car, but I got there eventually. There’s a clip/pin that the lever pivots on that needs to be pulled out so you can thread the lever onto the rod. Once that is done the pin needs to go back through the 2 holes on the bracket, and the two holes on the lever, while making sure the top end of the rod doesn’t slip out of the hole on top where the cable attaches.
Once the rod was installed, I connected the cable and verified that it worked smoothly from the carb end of the cable.
From there, I put on a new filter, and a new cork gasket. I tied the gasket on with some thread to hold it in place until I got some bolts started. I then tightened the pan bolts to the recommended 10-12 inch-lb torque. Note that is INCH-pounds, not foot-pounds. Big difference. I didn’t have an inch-lb torque wrench, so I bought one specifically for this job, since I wanted to be absolutely sure it was tightened properly so it wouldn’t leak. Otherwise, I’d have to take the transmission crossmember off again to get at all the pan bolts.
