Steve, we did, and it worked. 

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Well I seem to have it working ok but now I remember why it never worked that well the bell crank is flogged out.. I've spent a bit of time on it and made an adjustable throttle rod. I have to hit the floor pretty hard but it will kick down and I can now take off in first. Sometimes it goes real well and other times it short shifts. I've adjusted the trans link and it shifts at about 28 mph on a moderate take off. I've even try putting it in low above 20 mph and it works it shifts into second, the only thing is if you go too slow (10-15) it will drop into first.



"Came too close to dying to stop living now!"

As I recall - racers (with stock outfits) always would leave in LOW with the Fordo - use the lever to initiate up-shift, then swiftly return to LOW to hold the second gear.


 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

From what I recall, get pedal travel wright first then set the kickdown.

Im sure Ive got your diagram lying around Steve from last time.. And I understand what your saying about the need for having that little bit extra on the pedal for it to work. I did mean to have a look last night but unfortunately received further bad news about my father inlaw, he now has another brain tumour.. Great!
I did find something on throttle linkage adjustment yesterday seems passenger cars have 3 1/2"  to the floor matt and Tbirds have 4 1/2" ..?
I did also read that you can put the trans in "low" when driving along over 20 mph  [but I bet not at 60!]  and it will change to second 'intermediate' gear ...  seems there is more to the "fordo" than meets the eye..  I always thought that the first gear [low] was like a manual lock out.



"Came too close to dying to stop living now!"

This is the diagram I came up with for the T-bird years ago - shows a few of the little gadgets Ford put in there.................. To get mine to work, I had to put an adjustable stop on the back of the manifold to get a consistent pedal stop height. The diagram just shows the carb and throttle - not the kickdown rod.  
As the pedal is depressed, the carb throttle blade rotates until it stops turning (wide open primary) - there is remaining space between the pedal and floor. As the pedal continues downward, the mechanism is rotating, moving in the kickdown slot - continuing to move the kickdown rod still further downward.
The carb can be at full wide open - but the kickdown must travel further to get full actuation pressure - and downshift the transmission.


 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Seems like I have to go and check my linkages all over again .. I remember going through all of this years ago but I'd say it must be out of whack with all the carb changes ... Now to find all the info on lining it all up again .. More-so to get it right so I have first gear if I floor it ...



"Came too close to dying to stop living now!"

The thing I learned - the hard way as always - is that once you have the rod in the alignment holes - you then must set-up the height of the gas peddle off the floor. Spec was in the Fordo manual. This is so that there is sufficient travel available for the kick-down rod to travel the proper amount to work it's lever in turn. Make sense? When the peddle is too near the floor - mashing it won't result in enough kickdown movement to get the proper shift pressure. Just turn in in the screw on the kickdown raises the pressure OK - but then, back at part throttle the shift may still be harsh.
I've run my outfit with a Holley 600 cfm - and now a Demon 525 - and the internal throttle springs (of the carb) are so different than the linkage was initially designed for - much tinkering is required to balance the spring forces.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

At least on the 56 Fairlane, the rough adjustment for the trans is to get the kickdown rod to where it lines up with the hole on the bellcrank when pulled all the way up, and then lengthen the rod by 3 turns.  This method has always worked well for me.  The pressure gauge is the better way to do it, but I dont have one of those and havent sought out anyone who can do it that way.

I do believe that if it isnt adjusted properly it will lead to premature wear.

YMMV

Ron Grove

Wauconda, IL

The Fordo transmission manual has some additional advice about setting up the kickdown rod (on my '56) - it involves reading a pressure on the control valve. Shows the proper port to attach your gauge to - but I don't have a reference to it on my computer these days............. I have heard / read that the use of the pressure as a set-point is the best way to get a consistent reaction. Hoosier would know....... 

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona