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Tomorrow I am going to restore the Z bar on my 69. Any tips on doing this? I have the plastic and felt and rubber pieces, as my main complaint is it is leaking grease out the end by the engine. After I put it all back together, how much grease do I put back in, and what kind?
Hi Glenn. On my 69 I replaced the ball end at the engine as it had a slight bend to it so rebuilt the Zbar with felts and the rest. The bar itself is completely hollow with a grease fitting in the middle just to lube the two ends. I can't see filling up that entire tube with grease or why it is like that. It's close to the exhaust so it gets hot, melts and leaks out if the tube is full. Since it has plastic or nylon cups and felt seals I just used some good quality lube on each end and called it a day. That tube will hold more grease than all the wheel bearings combined and it barely moves. No idea why as the rest of the clutch linkage or rods has no lubrication whatsoever....
Last edited by CanadaGrant; Oct 21, 2017 at 12:42 AM.
Hi gw,
I've not been clear about the reason for the grease fitting in the center of the tube.
'Supposedly' the tube didn't have the fitting when the 68-72 cars left St.Louis, but instead had a small red plastic plug in the threaded hole.
My memory is that mine has always had the grease fitting.
I've done as CG describes… applied a little grease at each end where the ball stud rotates in the nylon cup.
I think it probably matters more that the little locking device be in place on the ball stud at the frame mounting end of the z-bar to keep the stud from rotating….so it remains snug.
???
Regards,
Alan
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
use wheel bearing grease, it will hold up to the higher temps near the exhaust. I just restored mine and paragon sells the old plastic plugs for the 68s. the hardest part is getting the little clip out that holds the bolt in. if your engine ball stud doesnt have the rubber seal around it , it will leak. mine did. My replacement actually creates a vacuum while trying to remove it when I test fit it. You'll have to buy a new stud as they dont sell the rubber seal that I was able to find
Hi Glenn. On my 69 I replaced the ball end at the engine as it had a slight bend to it so rebuilt the Zbar with felts and the rest. The bar itself is completely hollow with a grease fitting in the middle just to lube the two ends. I can't see filling up that entire tube with grease or why it is like that. It's close to the exhaust so it gets hot, melts and leaks out if the tube is full. Since it has plastic or nylon cups and felt seals I just used some good quality lube on each end and called it a day. That tube will hold more grease than all the wheel bearings combined and it barely moves. No idea why as the rest of the clutch linkage or rods has no lubrication whatsoever....
It never made sense to me that I should fill up the whole Z-bar with about a quart of grease for the little bit that is needed on the ends. I seem to be removing the engine every five years or so anyway to rebuild it and I can regrease the ends at that time.
Tomorrow I am going to restore the Z bar on my 69. Any tips on doing this? I have the plastic and felt and rubber pieces, as my main complaint is it is leaking grease out the end by the engine. After I put it all back together, how much grease do I put back in, and what kind?
Thanks so much
Glenn in San Diego
did you get a new o-ring for the block side ball stud?
I'd like to do this job too just to clean up my z-bar. When I bought the car (70) it had an incorrect lower rod installed, which messed up the geometry badly and made the clutch a bear to use. The previous owner's response was to pack the z-bar with enough grease to sink a ship, and it leaks out when hot like others have said here.
Question though - my z-bar is painted black. I haven't seen that on other cars, so I assume the previous owner did it. I think it is supposed to be bare?
Hi B,
The clutch cross-shaft was originally zinc plated.
Some silvery paint is a good substitute and holds up pretty well because the way the shaft is mounted the painted surfaces really don't get any wear.
Regards,
Alan
Make sure that you get that pivot ball TIGHT in your engine block and CHECK it every once and awhile.
I have recently had 3 Corvettes where this pivot ball had unthreaded itself and almost fell out...and was effect the clutch linkage function.
I apply some RTV when I put them in..because I do not want to use threadllocker..and the RTV will provide some resistance of this stud bolt from freely backing itself out.
ALSO..what is often tiems forgotten.
In the illustration below. look at PART #6. You can see two small tabs that come off of it like in Alan71's photo. ONE of these two tabs need to be bent onto the FLAT side of the nut that aligns up with a flat side of the nut.. that is why these two small tabs are at different positions....and it is to keep the nut from backing off.
This is great information. Thanks so much.
I still have not taken mine apart. What started me down this path is the grease oozing from the block side of the z bar tube and a felt washer pushed away from the tube there.
The above schematics make sense, but it is replicated on the block side? What keeps the grease from oozing out? If I grab the z bar tube as it is and try to wiggle it, it doesn't move. There is no play. I may be the previous owner filled this thing with grease to overflowing.
Z bar restore tips?
It never made sense to me that I should fill up the whole Z-bar with about a quart of grease for the little bit that is needed on the ends. I seem to be removing the engine every five years or so anyway to rebuild it and I can regrease the ends at that time. 
