Has anyone made a z-bar ***embly from scratch? I'm working on a '36 Ford with an A833 transmission and a Chevy bell housing and using a '40 Ford pedal ***y. I've spent several hours working out the geometry, but I'm not sure just how to make the z-bar itself. Has anybody fabbed up a z-bar from scratch and. if so, could you share any tips with me so I don't have to 'reinvent the wheel', so to speak? I tried to search for information, but came up short. Thanks for any help......
I modified a chevy blazer bar when I did mine. Of course a chevy motor in a chevy truck. I had to shorten and move the arms on it but at least I had someplace to start. The bearing surfaces are there along with the arms. Made it a lot easier than starting from scratch. Also the out side pivot holder I found was a bolt onto the frame. Easy to pull and to mount up. Hope that this is of help on your project. jerry
What are you needing to know? I've built quite a few in the past but it's been a few years. Preety simple if you have a place on the block for the pivit ball, you didn't mention what motor. If it's a flathead you'll have to fab a bracket to hold a pivot. Instead of using pivit balls I have used heim ends bolted to brackets bolted to the motor and frame and bolts threaded into the crossshaft. You do need something to allow for motor movement without binding. The shaft in itself is easy enough, just heavy wall 1" tube and 3/8 strap for the legs. I don't think the lenth of the legs is important as long as the ratio is right, most I've done 1 to 1 ratio works fine. It does need to be built pretty stought, especially if you have a high performance or heavy pressure plate and more so if your abusing it banging gears! I had a ot Ford muscle car I would bend/ break the stock cross shaft all the time, I finally welded one up with heavier material End replaced the clip on rods with hiem jointed rods and the clutch was lighter to push and my shifts got faster.
I made one for my truck ( somewhere in the linked thread below.) I used DOM tubing, 3/16" plate and a couple of Chevy pivot balls. Works great!
why not just use a hyd. setup? the jeep guys do this all the time and chevrolet did it on trucks back in 60'.
Can someone post a picture of what these look like? I'm going with a hydraulic setup, but would like to see an alternative.
I'm more inclined to modify a factory one. Either shorten or lengthen it as necessary. The right size tubing to fit the pivot balls might be challenging for a one time project.
I was planning to build one for my 50 chevy delivery with a 406 SBC and a 4 speed. Thought I'd try a look at pickups at U-pull-it for ideas first. I ended up removing a complete setup from a late 70s ford 1/2 ton because all the brackets were removable and the bushings were nice and tight...it was so much easier than fabbing one up. I had to shorten it up and while I was at it, I re-clocked the arms to work for my pedal setup. I made up a little weld-on bracket on the frame side to bolt on the Z-bar pivot with it's plastic bushings. I also made a weld-on bracket to accept the pivot for the other [engine] side of the Z-bar and welded it to my Lakewood ****tershield... I drilled a few extra holes in the arms to play with my ratios....worked like a champ and I think I had about 12 bucks in it...and it was built ford tough.
I thought about using a hydraulic T/O bearing, but: 1. wanted to keep it 'simple', 2. wanted to keep it cheap as possible and 3 wanted to do the fabrication........I guess sometimes I just look for the hardest way to do things......<SIGH>. Thanks for the replies. BTW, the engine is a 327 SBC (please, I know it's been done to death, but it IS traditional and I LIKE 'em!). The block has a 7/16-14 hole for the block pivot ball. I was going to take a 1-1/8" diameter bar & machine it to accept the ball (I have a lathe), but maybe it'd be better to get an existing z-bar and shorten it to what I need. I'm getting old and I'd like to finish the project so I can drive it a couple of times before I croak..................... Guess I'll hit the junk....er....., RECYCLE yards tomorrow and see what I can find. Thanks again!
In 1970 I set up an Ansen Hyd. clutch on my coupe. The juice didn't leave the cylinder quickly, so each shift had a slipping clutch aspect before it finally caught. Mech linkage (Z's) from that time forward.
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