1966 Barracuda Clutch Z-Bar Repair

I just couldn't seem to get the clutch in my Barracuda adjusted right. I'd push the clutch pedal to the floor and there was still a little resistance in the shifter handle when shifting into gear, which meant to me that the clutch wasn't releasing fully. It was almost there but not quite. And I had the adjusting rod to the point that the throwout bearing was just clear of the pressure plate fingers when the clutch pedal was all the way released. Another issue was when I released the clutch, there sometimes would be quite the shudder. Something just wasn't right. So I delved into the problem, and found that the Z-bar had a lot of play in it. And it had been repaired at some point in its past.

Oh, and a minor note, in the above photo there are two sets of bearings for the Z-bar, one set made of a plastic material (presumably nylon) and the second set made of bronze. The plastic ones were still within specs it seemed, but the bronze pair were well-worn. I wonder if the bar came with bronze bearings in both ends from the factory... We may never know.

These next photos shows an oblong hole in the end of the Z-bar. No wonder there was so much play in the clutch. The second photo clearly shows where the bar split open, causing the needed repair. I'd looked on a bunch of sites (Brewers, 521Resto, YearOne) to see what a new Z-bar would cost but nobody had one for a pre-1967 A-body. Only after repairing my bar did I find that Classic Industries did carry one, for $78.

On to the repair. I wasn't sure how to tackle the task of making the oblong tube round again. What I ended up doing was to turn down a chunk of surplus steel pipe a little smaller than the diameter I was attempting to achieve. I then slipped the pipe into the Z-bar tube and started whacking away at the outside of the Z-bar to make it round again. The piece of pipe inside the tubing helped keep the tubing from getting bent out of shape too much. This next series of photos shows the progress.

Turning the pipe to size:

Pipe fits well inside the tubing:

Finished product, nice and round:

I then wanted to reinforce the end of the Z-bar tube. I was able to spin the Z-bar on my Smithy 1340 lathe with the Z-bar arms just clearing the lathe bed, and I whittled away at the goobered weld.

I initially was going to make a reinforcement ring on the lathe to fit the Z-bar tube but then found this thick washer that I cut down to size. It fit perfectly over the tube.

These next two photos show the large washer welded to the tubing and the arm. I used a Lincoln WeldPak 100 and some flux core wire to weld the washer to the tube. That should hold well. I just hope the other end of the Z-bar tube doesn't give out anytime soon. Fortunately it didn't show any signs of distress.

The next installment will be reinstalling the Z-bar and doing some other necessary repairs.