I have a 1986 Ford F150, 4.9 inline six. I want to put one of your 4 barrel intakes and carb on it. This truck has a C6 automatic transmission. Are there any work arounds for the kick down linkage. The stock manifold is drilled and tapped on the rear for a bracket for the kick down linkage. When I look at pictures of the two manifolds you make for this engine, neither of them have those same tapped holes. I am thinking someone has come up with a linkage kit to get around this problem. Please advise. Thank you
Michael Jordan
Savannah, GA
ve a 1986 Ford F150, 4.9
For your 1986 Ford F150 with the 4.9L inline-six and C6 automatic, you are correct—the Offenhauser 4-barrel intake manifolds for this engine do not have the factory-drilled/tapped holes in the rear for the stock kickdown bracket.
There is not an official “kit” specifically from Offenhauser to solve this. Here’s what you need to know to make it work:
- The C6 kickdown linkage needs to be actuated in the same way as with the stock manifold. Since the 4-barrel Offenhauser intake does not come with the necessary drilled/tapped holes, most users fabricate a small bracket that attaches to the rear carburetor stud or another nearby mounting point.
- You’ll want to relocate the stock C6 kickdown lever and its bracket to the rear carburetor (or its mounting studs), replicating the function and movement of your original set-up. If you have all the parts from your original one-barrel setup, try to model your custom bracket after that arrangement, just using the rear-most carb location as your attachment point.
- There are general-purpose cable and bracket kits available from companies like Lokar (often their kits are referenced as working well in this situation), but a bit of fabrication or adaptation is typically required.
- There’s no direct bolt-on Offenhauser or third-party kit specifically for the C6 kickdown on these manifolds; most solutions involve relocating or fabricating an appropriate actuator near the rear carburetor and then connecting it to the stock linkage to the C6.
- Some customers and dealers have reported drilling and tapping the manifold for a bracket, or using a carb stud mounting bracket to hold the kickdown actuator in place.
In summary: You’ll likely need to fabricate or adapt a bracket to mount your C6 kickdown lever at the rear carb location, using either the rear carb stud or by drilling/tapping the intake. Using a universal cable kit (such as from Lokar) can help complete the connection if the factory rod lengths do not reach. There is no direct drop-in bracket included with the Offenhauser 4-barrel intake for this application.