Can anyone tell me how I get the pivot ball out of the Z-bar (car side of Z-bar, not the engine side)? I want to clean the thing out, put new seals in, etc...but I cannot figure out how to get that ball out of there. Thanks guys!

Edit: Oh yeah, it's a 71.

 

There is a round wire retainer in a groove inside the tube. You should be able to roll it out and then remove the ball stud for mantenance.

 

Is the retainer on the "car" side of the z-bar or all the way inside the tube that you have to get at from the "engine" side? If it's the later, what would you use to get it out...screwdriver?

 

My 71' didn't have any kind of retainer inside the tube that I can recall. Here's a page from the 71' AIM. Remove nut (6) then retainer (5) and the pivot ball will come out of the groove in the bracket. You'll need to take any spring tension off the linkage first.

Gary

 

Eric (Solid LT1) is correct. There is a wire retainer that clips in place to hold the second nylon SEAT (1) in place.

Duke's diagram shows everything and once you get it apart, it should become evident. The tube of the Z-bar has a ridge about an inch and a half inside, on the frame side of the tube. The first SEAT (1) slides into the tube and is held in place by the ridge. The STUD (2) then goes in and a second nylon SEAT (1) is inserted. The next piece is the RETAINER (8) which is made of spring steel. You can remove the wire RETAINER just as Eric described above. There is one part of the RETAINER that is bent inward away from the outer circumference. Slip a small screwdriver behind it and gently pry it out. It's pretty sturdy, so you shouldn't need to worry about breaking it, but it will take off on you if you "pop" it out. The last thing installed is the SEAL (7), actually a felt washer that slips over the stud and sits in the end of the tube.

Typically the only wear items are the nylon SEATS (1) and of course the felt SEALS (7). Sometimes the STUDS (2 & 12) will show some signs of wear, but that's about it. The Z-bar just slips onto the STUD ASSEMBLY (12) on the block and is not retained. It's designed to be able to slip in and out of the Z-bar a bit as the engine torques. I like to slip another felt seal over the STUD ASSEMBLY (12) before sliding the Z-bar into place and when everything is tightened down on the frame, gently tuck the seal into the end of the Z-bar on the engine side. This helps to keep the grease inside of the Z-bar and keeps things a bit cleaner in that area.

CLUTCH BELLCRANK BALL STUD (#12 above) - Clutch bellcrank ball stud, screws into engine block, includes rubber seal - a neoprene washer which acts as a seal in the end of the tube.

CLUTCH BELLCRANK BALL STUD (#2 above)

CLUTCH BELLCRANK BALL STUD "C" CLIP (#8 above)

CLUTCH BELLCRANK BALL STUD NYLON SEAT (#1 above)

Clutch Bellcrank Ball Stud Felt Seal (#7 above)


Good luck... I hope this has made things just a bit clearer... GUSTO

 

After stabbing myself in the hand with a screwdriver about 50 times, a few choice words and a beer, I got that clip off! Thanks for the help guys!

Now on a related note...My previous setup was a 350 with an unknown clutch. The clutch pedal was relatively lose pressure until about the last 3 in or so when it "grabbed." The car shifted fine, it just had that lose play on most of the clutch pedal travel. I read about the clutch fork ball stud in the bellhousing...thinking maybe it was too short? I now am puting a zz454 in with a new clutch...what can I do to remedy this problem while I've got it all apart? I'd hate to get everything bolted in/hooked up and then have the clutch do the same thing. I also don't want to just guess and install a longer pivot ball and then have that not work w/ the new clutch. Thoughts?

 

if you loosen the nut on the stud, near the fender side,
the whole crank assy. will slide up and out, and off of the motor stud. 69VETT

 

Yes I know, every part of the drivetrain/attached parts are out of the car right now. I just want to know what the best avenue is for making sure I don't have the same clutch issue when I put it all back together.

 

It all depends on what clutch you put in there as to which pivot stud you need. What you're aiming for is that at *rest* the throwout arm is as far forward toward front of car as possible and with say 1/4"-3/8" or so clearance between the bearing and the pressure plate. You pick the stud that will get you as close as possible without losing clearance to allow for freeplay and wear. As the disc wears the clearance between the pressure plate fingers and bearing gets less. If the stud is too short you will have to push the pedal a long ways to get bearing to the pressure plate fingers.

Mcleod also makes a slick bearing with interchangeable sleeves to allow for 3 different lengths of throwout bearing too. And the adjustable studs from Lakewood and Mr Gasket help too.

Also look for ANY wear in the pivot holes of all the linkage. Just a little goes a long way toward creating lots of pedal slop. Make sure you have the upper pedal stop in place too.

JIM

 

I believe that John Z from the C1 - C2 FORUM posted a thread response a while back that gave some very specific dimensions for the distance of the ball to the back of the block. If you do a search there you might find it, or just send him a PM and I'm sure he will come up with the dimensions for you.

Good luck... GUSTO

 

Hi folks, i wonder if anyone could or would be able to give me the dimensions of the Z bar for manual clutch, I am currently rebuilding my 77 and changing the drive back to its original manual, big proplem is I dont have a z bar as that was gone on its auto change, i also dont want to pay out for a unit that i wont use as i intend to make it out of 316 stainless, if at all possible could someone help me with this please, many thanks, ches

 

You are posting to a thread from 2009. Starting a new thread will probably get you an answer quicker.

 

Guess the z-bar has changed since 2009? Who'da guessed. Yes, It's been a long time since I rebuilt my z-bar but I believe both sides have the retainer clip (we called them Jesus clips because when you try to take it off it springs out and goes flying across the shop then you yell JESUS).

 

Hello,
Here's drawing from an earlier post about the z-bar / cross bar.
Some of the dimensions but not all.
Maybe a start?
Regards...

 

Thank you very much Alan, this is a great help

 

Many thanks Alan, this is a great help

 

Alan's drawing is very helpful when comparing the slight variations in the z-bar construction. Prior to seeing that drawing some time ago I had always thought they were all the same.

FWIW I welded up an aluminum z-bar for my car a few years back (was running out of places to take weight out of the car). It's difficult getting the arms' spacial arrangements "correct", so I used my original bar to make a welding jig to get all the pieces in the right planes. Everything went pretty effortlessly with that.

Let us know how things go.

 

Gosh it sure is GREAT to have Alan back posting on the forum again - truley a wealth of information and a huge asset!