ok heres the deal. I was driving down a muddy road to day because i had no choice and i got stuck. and i bent my z bar where the adjuster mounts to. I have know idea what could of happend to it. now i cant get it to go into any gear correctly. the only way i can shift up is to not use the clutch because it is usless. Any Ideas on how i can get this fixed or do i just need to bite the bullet and buy a new zbar. And if i do do you know where i can get one?

 

It's steel. Find a shoppe that does welding etc. I used to take mine to a machine / welding shoppe off I-40 in Albuquerque when I lived there.

I've never seen a used late A-body (78-81) z-bar that wasn't welded up / repaired. I've heard so much bad crap about the 82-83 z-bar in f-bodies, I'm surprised yours isn't too.

 

Yup, mine cracked last summer. The top bar split almost all the way through. Bent it back to the right spot and welded it up and its all good now.

 

if i remember right it was welded in one place. I have the problem fixed for now. i just ran the adjuster out to get every thing working right. I know it isn't the correct way of doing it but i am short on money right now so it will work. i thought about doing this also. if i were to straghten where it is bent and weld some reinforcement on it do you think that it might work?

 

reinforcement good.

 

Mine has to have something wrong with it as well. I replaced the bushing underneath the dash on the clutch rod. That piece is hard to see where it is. What all holds that z-bar in for removal? I can disconnect the clutch rod under the dash and pull out the funny little c clip under the hood that connects to the z-bar.

When you remove the bolts will the z-bar just slide away from the ball stud or do you have to jack the engine up? I am getting frustrated with this thing. If I can't fix it I will have to go to a darn hydraulic clutch assembly I guess.

 

That's how it is on everything else, so I'd have to say yes. Not sure how it is retained on the outer end, but the inner end should be just slipped onto the engine ballstud.

 

ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!! I can't believe that G.M. did not put a grease fitting on that end of the z-bar. My z-bar split right where it bolts on to the firewall.

Ok now that the crying is over how do I fix the pieces I have. Do I just bend the split back to together and make the weld for hell. Or do I try to find another one. I will drill a hole in the booger and put a grease fitting in it. The ball inside seems to be pretty corroded.

How do you change that ball stud in the Z--bar? I see there is a nut on a bolt but how do you keep it from twisting to get that nut off.

I don't want to go to a hydraulic clutch yet.

 

I went to the dealer and purchased a Z-bar today for my 83 T/A. It was a 160.00 before my discount. I also ordered a new torque bar mount and all of the pieces that go into the end of the Z-bar.
I hear the Paddock in Knightstown Indiana carries the Z-bar to but it is on a 6 week backorder right now.

I don't think the Z-bar should break again for a long time. I will be installing a grease fitting in the end that don't have one.

 

I can't imagine the outer ballstud would differ from the other GM stuff.

On the inner end, there's a ballstud with a neoprene seal threaded into the block. The z-bar slips onto this.

On the outer end of the z-bar, another ballstud is retained in the end. Detail on that: The z-bar has a surface inside against which a white plastic "seat" or "beveled washer" sits. The ballstud sits against that beveled surface and another seat/washer goes against the ballstud. Those items are then retained with a steel circular clip.

Over that on most applications, they have a felt washer as a seal, and on the other side of the "frame bracket" (in the f-body's case, a firewall bracket I guess) a lock washer and a nut hold all that down. The outer ballstud should have flats on 2 sides so that it can slip into the frame bracket and not spin while the nut is tightened.

On the GM z-bars I've seen, they have a zerk in the middle with a plastic plug. Why no zerk, I don't know. Easy enough to add one with an SAE threaded one. (2.5"?)

The outer ballstuds do corrode pretty bad when they haven't been greased and have seen precipitation & salt. I had a set of 73-77 A-body pedals and I had to torch the hell out of it to get the outer ballstud removed from the z-bar due to rust. The parts were from Canada eh.

I'd say I am glad you picked up a spare and that you now know how to lube and repair your parts so that you're not scrambling for a fix in the future. The nice thing about the 82-83 f-body linkage is that they needed the angle in the fork similar to the 78-81 A-body, but for the f-body, they fixed the fork angle so you could use a straight fork and the bellhousing ballstud & fork opening the properly located. Also, the pedal has a bushing instead of being steel on steel.

Post pics of your parts when you get a chance please.

 

JMD the stud that is in the block looks new mainly because it has the grease around it. The other side where the felt washer is, is the bad one. It is pretty rusty and that is the reason I think it cracked. I don't think they are weak I just think they rust and then it breaks. With the stock type clutch I have it should not break the new one.

 

Hopefully you can view these. I am a novice at putting pictures on the web. I should be installing these tonite.

http://f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/chevellespeed

 

:yourock: Thanks a lot for posting up pics. That's a more severe bend through the shaft than any of the A-body stuff, even 78-81. I can see why people have problems with breakage on any of it. Enjoy your new parts.