Its been a little over 9 years since my last post (sound like i'm at confession), Too much frustration with the car, hobbies are supposed to be fun right? I decided to get back into it so I blew off an inch of dust and dead stink bugs and took her for a drive. Ok I'm hooked. I needed a new timing cover and oil pan installed and also had fuel injection on my wish list but feared it was way over my head. After about half a dozen shops turned me down.....well they don't actually turn you down. Here in the south I get "love to do it but were backed up 6-8 weeks".....then nothing. I swear every one of them gave me the same story and i fell for it each time. So I get an engine stand, cherry picker and did it myself New oil pan, TA timing cover, SPX-1 manifold, Sniper EFI with Hyperspark ignition, even put a new clutch in while I was there. This isn't really my forte' but despite it taking what seemed like forever no more oil leaks and it starts and runs like a modern car. I haven't driven it hard yet because of the new clutch but it feels strong and super smooth. Ok long intro/rant over here is why I posted in U-shift em. Pretty sure I bought all the right Kleiner, Garrison, parts, been so long I can't remember who sells what but new Z-bar, fork, adjustable swivel, pedal rod, etc. Put a new pedal assembly in as well (parts place or year 1). The problem I've been struggling with is the z-bar to pedal rod rubs the pedal assembly. Everything seems to be lined up fine then you press the pedal and it bends the pedal towards the drivers side causing the rod to rub. I cut the flywheel so there is a little extra play at the for but I made up for it with the adjustable pivot. I tried enlarging the mounting holes on the z-bar frame bracket to get the z-bar lined up better, no luck. The z-bar has some play in it left/right so I tried washers to have it closer to the block, then frame. No love. The only other thing I can think of it the bend in the z-bar has to be "adjusted" but I have no clue where or what direction or if its something else. Car runs so good I'm thinking of driving it to NJ this 4th but this pesky clutch rod thing is kicking my ass. Any suggestion greatly appreciated. Matt
Perhaps an incorrect z bar and/or rod. Try to ID the seller. Then use the search key too see if there are reports of these reproductions not being made to stock specs. I recall a discussion about some Kleiner reproduced.
I had a similar problem - all parts from your same vendor - pedal became very hard and was binding. Ended up putting original clutch fork back in and solved binding. OEM fork was slightly longer which straightened out z bar rotation travel. Obviously I can’t say it’s the same problem but it is something to look at. there are also several throw out bearing sizes that can help get your linkage where it needs to be. Ted
http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/1972-4-spd-clutch-fork.346530/#post-2942186 http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?th...-bell-crank-reproduction.304760/#post-2540377 Lakewood adjustable pivot ball
Thanks guys. I've seen the posts where the bottom of the z-bar isn't lined up with the fork. I used to have a similar issue but I already corrected that with the Lakewood adjustable pivot (which is at its maximum adjustment). The lower half of the z-bar seems correct. I went through my 2 foot tall stack of receipts and the z-bar, fork, and pedal rod are Kleiner and the frame mount is Garrisons. It's definitely the pedal rod or the top of the z-bar needing an adjustment. The top of the z-bar travel is straight but the rod pushes the pedal so far over is broke. I ordered a new clutch pedal from TPP along with their z-bar/rod kit. I'll reinforce the new pedal where it broke and see what happens with the new parts.
I experienced a similar problem as you can see in the attached thread above. The Parts place Z-bar is not correct for the big block ball stud. They made it to fit a small block ball stud. Also the threads in the grease fitting were under size. So I could not use it. What I found out was the Z-bar in the car had one of the arms pound straight. Once I found an original and compared it to the old one ,I could see why I was having all the trouble. I installed it with the correct bends and angles it worked perfectly. I am not sure if the small block ball stud is the same length as the big block ball stud and this would also cause a problem with alignment.
Richie --I assume that this is the thread that you referenced above: http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/1972-4-spd-clutch-fork.346530/
