Hy guys, that lever connected to the trans. from the throttle lever is the transmissions throttle modulation. Without that connection the transmission would shift at the same road speed regardless of where the throttle was, basically the more throttle the later the transmission upshifts. As for the torque converter, no the hydramatic does not have one, it uses a fluid coupling. As for linkage adjustment I was taught that with the carb at full throttle the pin should just go into the lever on the transmission, hope that helps.
