Hitman's Pontiac Trans Am Forum
Trans Am Information => Trans Am Tech => DriveTrain => Topic started by: jb1964 on May 01, 2011, 02:41:46 PM
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I recently bought a 79 trans am off of ebay (big mistake), The person I bought the car from, had installed a (Hurst Slap shifter) they only had it bolted in with one bolt, I decided to switch back to the orig shifter. I removed all the Hurst equipment & installed a re-man orig shifter & new Kick down cable. Here is the issues that I am having.
1 does the mounting bracket for the Kick down cable mount to the 1st & 2nd hole in the transmission (pan) or is it the 2nd & 3rd hole. (i am currently in the 1st & 2nd), I have installed the cable clips, both upper & lower. It seems like there is allot of slack in the line down by the transmission.
2 should the transmission be in Park or should it be in another gear?
3 does the kick down cable mount to the pin with the cotter key or does it mount to another location? On mine there is a pin with a cotter key & there is also an adjustable metal tab about 2 inches in length with a hole in it. So does the kick down cable mount to the Pin or to the Hole on the end of the tab, if it is the pin (ok) then what is the metal tab with hole in it for.
4 If anyone has a picture of this connection down at the transmission it would be a big Help.
Thanks JB (the novice)
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Hi and welcome to the board. Let me first start off with saying there is a kickdown cable as you call it and there is a shifter cable. Two entirely different animals. The "kickdown cable" attaches to throttle linkage on one end and the other slips over a length of wire that comes out on the passengers side of the transmission.
Unless I read something terrible wrong it sounds as if you are trying to use a "kickdown cable" as a shifter cable. Post a picture of both ends of your cable and we'll go from there. Again welcome!
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Yes, it appears you mean the shifter cable, not kickdown cable, since you're talking about the shifter. Here's an illustration of the shifter cable that might help:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v159/67SS427/SHIFTCABLEILLUSTRATION.jpg)
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I may have read his post badly. I assumed the 2 inch tab he mentioned with a hole in it was an elongated hole that ran the whole length of the tab. Which sounds more like a kickdown cable. Thats why I was hoping for a pic of what he has. Your pic should answer any of his questions provided he in fact has a shifter cable.
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You nailed it, this will help a ton, I was afraid that something could have been changed inside the transmission, The first time I hooked it up with out a guide, I had it in the wrong position & I swore the car was posessed, it still might be. Where if I may ask did you get this detailed drawing. None of the books I have are quite as detailed as the info you have. Thanks again, I am sure I will be back with other questions. There is one heavy wiire that crosses over the transmission from the Left side to the passangers side of the transmission, it is burned pretty bad by the header, I don't have access to a lift, that I can get the car High enough to trace it back to its origin. Would you have any idea what this wire could be & what is its purpose. thanks again JB
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That illustration is from the 1980 Firebird Assembly Manual CD that is availble from the store here at 78ta.com .
The "heavy wire" that crosses over to the passenger side of the trans sounds like it is actually the kickdown cable. The top end of the cable attaches to the throttle lever on the carburetor and plugs into a bracket on the driver side of the carb to hold it there, and then is routed over to the passenger side of the transmission where it plugs into a hole in the transmisson where the bottom end of the cable is connected to a wire hook that's inside the hole.
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Yes, it appears you mean the shifter cable, not kickdown cable, since you're talking about the shifter. Here's an illustration of the shifter cable that might help:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v159/67SS427/SHIFTCABLEILLUSTRATION.jpg)
I am back, I am still having issues with my shift cable, once I have every thing in place & the slack out of the line, it seems like the cable is not putting enough pressure on the assembly comming out of the transmission to give a (positive ) (park position) it seems like when I pull it down into gear it will not return back to park & is always in a gear. HELP this is driving me nuts, Is there another adjustment that I have to make to keep it in park. I see there is a long rod that seems to come down from the stearing column down to the a hole in the side of the frame with a spring on the end of it, I know, I know Novice, but the car is almost ready to be finished up & hit the road but I can't drive it this way. SO ANY IDEAS ARE WELCOME. Thanks JB
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