Hey all,

I dug around and found that some people have ran into this issue but I don’t think I’ll be able to fix it by “tweaks” to the z-bar. I’m a few hours into my auto to manual conversion and went to install a new speed direct clutch rod and a z-bar from a donor car. I’m seeing the rod end bolt on the clutch rod at the zbar is hitting my steering box when the clutch is pressed.

I’m thinking that if I lop an inch off of the end of the rod to shorten it, that would solve my clearance issues and wanted to see if anyone has had to do something similar. The rod ends of both side of the rod are screwed all the way in but it’s not getting me to where I need it to be. I grab a pic of the interference and the zbar angle with the clutch all the way up.

thanks!

 

deleted my original response, I had a different problem

As you say, you could shorten the top shaft and lengthen the bottom. My setup was a speed direct linkage but I did not see this interference. I do note that mine is tightened all the way so things are probably just a little worse on your car.

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OK you got me curious as to how much clearance I had so I went out and took a picture. Lighting is not the best but I have lots and lots of clearance with the clutch all the way in, so something else is going on



One more thought @OldCarBum spent a lot of time figuring out where the mount for the z-bar should be since his car was an automatic and didn't have that in place. He doesn't have a Borgeson so far as I remember.

 

I had the same issue... removed the Z bar and bent it just a bit, now clears Borgeson

 

There are a couple of different Z-bars, perhaps you wound up with the wrong one.
The C2s had 2 or 3 versions, but IIRC all the C3s are the same.
The bars have different angles.
After 50 years, there is no telling which one is actually on your car.
Many folks probably thought they were all the same.
I'll look for a pic.

 

Ditto on the different Z-bars. 3 different.

Leigh, did you fabricate your examples?

George.

 

No I found these pics on the forum.

I just like to save interesting stuff.

 

I thought about that and also, despite my comment on the mounting position, even if there were no z-bar in place, the position of the end of the pushrod on big morts vs. mine is considerably further forward, by more than an inch I would guess. It simply looks like if my pushrod was longer it would hit in about the same place

In my picture I've pushed the clutch to the floor. I can't easily look to see what hole the other end is mounted in on the pedal arm. I think there are two holes but what I remember isn't that reliable after many years. Nor is it possible to determine the length of either pushrod from SpeedDirect without a direct measurement given that there is a firewall in between.

As far as the angle goes, for my car I broke the tack welds and re-welded one of the arms in a different position.

And one more thing, when this gets resolved, a "keeper" like my cotter pin, is a good idea, as this joint is constantly rotating. I think "golfobsesseds" cotter pin will eventually wear out.

 

Thanks for all the replies and info guys. I had no idea there were different angled Z-bars. I dont think I even mentioned it but my project is a 1980 and I got these parts (z-bar, pedals, trans, etc) all from what I think was a 1973 or 74. So I've already run into a few things like finding out the pedal box mounting hole patterns are different among the two. So maybe there was some offset that I induced by installing earlier year pedals into a late model pedal box. Also I didn't mention this but the manual trans and clutch fork are not installed yet. So at the moment, the z-bar rotational position is only impacted by the clutch rod off the pedal.

I think ignatz nailed the crux of it though, the end of the clutch rod is too far forward. From the pictures I'm seeing, with the clutch pedal fully upright, the z bar is almost completely vertical and mine is not, due to the extended length of the clutch rod. I might call speed direct to see if they even sell different clutch rod lengths for different years....regardless I'll probably end up chopping an inch or so off the rod to get the geometry where it needs to be. I can still take out any slop I see at the clutch fork with the rod end adjustments on the lower rod when I get there.

My issue seems to be a weirder one, at least the extent of the interference, but I can report back after I do some c3 surgery today.

 

Welp, just to give an update after heeding the advice here, I think I got it to a place that’ll work. I took the clutch rod out and sliced about a half inch off of each end and then shortened the clevises. Reinstalled it and I get full throw from the clutch pedal without any interference. On to the next step of the manual conversion!

thanks for the help all.