Good Afternoon all, I have a '57 Chevy 2 door hardtop, 377 small block, with a muncie 4speed. The " Z bar/Cross Shaft", the bar that has a grease zirc fitting that goes from the frame ball to the ball on the bracket bolted to the bell housing, is NOT STRAIGHT. I am running an aftermarket Lakewood steel bellhousing, all new stock style linkage (from the clutch pedal all the way to the clutch fork), and a dual friction Centerforce clutch. Has anyone also had and issue with that Z Bar/Cross Shaft being crooked?? I am thinking about either removing the bracket with the ball that is riveted to the frame and re-welding it, OR taking the bracket off of the bellhousing and making something that would line up better. The clutch works just fine I suppose, it just seems to me that it would be alot smoother if it were lined up correctly. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks again!!!
The shaft is designed to accomadate slight angles. The split bushings that go around the ball and fit inside the tube take up the angle and allow the shaft to pivot. You do have the bushings don't you?
You're correct, it will work better if the arms & rods are at right angles to ea. other' The Zbar shaft should be at 90deg. to the frame & level to the ground. Move whatever looks easier to do. This situation arises with motor & mount changes affecting alignment.
Are the stock mounts being used, engine and trans? A lot of side mount kits move the engine FORWARD, and guess what happens with a clutch car.........the cross shaft gets "angled". Can you redrill the bellhousing mount of the cross shaft to compensate? Butch/56sedandelivery.
Thanks for the help guys! I did not know there were bushings that insert into the z bar/cross bar. I will have to order some. There isn't any room to re-drill the bracket that bolts to the bell housing unfortunately. I am using stock mounts to mount the transmission, off of the bell housing. But the motor mounts have been altered somewhat. Like I said, the clutch operates fine, it's just not as smooth as some others that I have built and that's the most obvious issue. Also at high RPM (6,500+) it has issues shifting into gear, so I am hoping straightening out the clutch geometry will help, as I have re-adjusted the shifter and checked the transmission itself, multiple times to no avail. I think I will cut the mount off of the frame, relocate it, and give that a shot. Thanks again!
I have re-located cross shaft balls before to get the z-bar straight. I made up a 1/4" thick rectangular (maybe 1" x 2") steel plate, tapped it for the stud on the ball, weld the ball in place, ground off the excess stud. I added a through hole to mount the plate to the block in the correct location. Eyeball engineering all the way. I had to take some material off the z-bar tube as well to compensate for the plate thickness. Bob
My memory is a little fuzzy [sold my last '57 in '67] but wasn't their multiple mounting points on the engine end for the Z-bar dependent on model/year ? Either on the bellhousing or on the block ? dave
I forget too, would have to trip out to the garage to look at some hardware. I recall doing the offset z-bar plate thing on a box Nova one time. Bob
Old problems never die. Have a question on my 57 Chevy. The z-bar is level between the frame and the engine and square. I have the bellhousing bracket that mounts the pivot ball for the z-bar on the engine side. The pivot ball is located above the oil filter (normal location) this is fairly high up on the block. The clutch arm is basically center of the crankshaft (horizontally) which is much lower in elevation than the z-bar. The linkage arm that is attached on the bottom of the z-bar takes up some of the elevation change, thus leaving the linkage rod running down from the z-bar mount to the clutch arm. The clutch arm is a fixed spot and the z-bar is a fixed spot. What's wrong? Why is the center to center difference between the z-bar ball and the clutch arm so much? Z-bar is correct for 57. Looks strange pushing down on an angle to the clutch arm rather than a more level approach. Anyone out there have a trifive chevy with a stick that could send me a picture of the linkage rod angle from the z-bar to the clutch arm? Thanks
Never saw a Z bar bushing on a tri 5. Be sure you repair the worn upper end of your clutch rod. The rod from inside the car. A well used one will be cut nearly thru.
I'm thinking that the pivot wasn't mounted on the engine block but on the bell housing or a bracket mounted to the bell housing.
Yep, there's a bushing on the z-bar arm that the through firewall rod bolts to. http://www.classicchevy.com/chevy-clutch-cross-shaft-bushing-and-bolt-assembly-1955-1957.html
My memory is in the same years, late 60s on tri 5's. I do recall different mount points; maybe because we swapped 6 sticks, to v8 stick. So, I recall 2 threaded holes in line, on some v8 blocks, a forward and a rear mounting ball thread spot. I also recall a flat 1/4" plate with a permanent ball on it, with 2 bolt holes. I also recall some Z bars had ball bushings, but I think I recall none on the tri 5's we had? Too many decades
On all 5,6,7. chevies the cross shaft is mounted to a bracket that bolt to the bell housing that is the correct mounting. I have seen where the frame end of the ball and bracket sometimes gets broken off and is re-welded not always in the exact location also if it was an original automatic car then someone welded the frame bracket on. The bell housing motor mounts are terrible and sag after a period of time, resulting in broken distributor caps. If you are going to keep the stock mounts all around make sure that they are good. Check the fronts and rears and go from there. Good Luck, Pat
As others have said, "do what it takes". To add to that, I suggest doing it at the bellhousing or engine side of thing's since the the ball stud bracket that's on the frame rail is set and stationary to the body and or clutch pedal assembly.
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