Wow guys, ex-mailman or not, it's friggin' COLD out. But it's dry so out I go. Today I took out the stock pedal rod and fork push rod. The instructions said to assemble the replacement rods to match the factory stuff. Sounds easy. The fork rod was the first as it has the least space for error. It went together pretty easy. See the big fat ended Hays rod end? That thing is over 30 years old that I know of and shows no wear at all. That is why I used the cap nut and did not cut the rare Hays part. Look how wasted the other end is and that is not so old at all. That is the so called "BBC" style and the reason for the upgrade to the Heim joint kit.
I wanted to shorten it and make up for the length up top, but no good. I found that there is an arc of travel for the lower part of the Z-bar and since the fork is not changing position then shortening the rod results in less arc. So the factory had a purpose for the lengths of the rods. No problemo- I used the stock length and it fit well. One end of the center part is reverse threaded so you turn it one way and both ends expand/contract. EZPZ.
Then I went up top and that is where I ran into trouble. I assembled the new rod the same length as the factory rod. That was fine and it went into and through the firewall bellows easily. But when I tried to get the fasteners on I ran into severe space limitations. NO ROOM TO WORK! I took off the washer fluid reservoir and that helped a lot but I wish the power booster/master was off too. And inside under the dash? YIKES!!! Good luck fitting the bolts in place and getting the nuts on. I got it done only with a combination of long nose pliers, magnet-on-a-stick, flexible trouble light, and much swearing. Now the biggest problem, matching the fitment of the stock piece. The problem is that the joints turn, so you can clearance everything down there. But the rod ends also turn a bit. There is an angle called the "limit of mis-alignment" that alows the join to pivot a bit without stressing it. But that lets the entire pedal rod pivot some. It is vary hard to get it all lined up and then tighten the lock nuts without anything moving. Then when you think it is perfect, you depress the pedal and it all moves. It's like it seeks it's own position relative to the clutch pedal and Z-bar. When you get one end perfect the other looks off. I wonder if that is why the upper rod wears so fast- because it wants to turn and can't? I figure as long as it is withing the mis-alignment limit it should be fine. When it warms up I can take another look at it. Having a helper hold things steady would be a plus. For now it is in and working well.