Quote:

Not to confuse anyone, but, I may put a 440 in the truck, but can I use a 10.5" car bell housing with the slant 6 Z bar? Or does it have to be a small or big block Z bar with the 10.5" bell?



The z bar for a slant 6 is longer (wider) then a z bar from a small/big block. The diameter of the slant 6 bell is smaller then the bell on a small block, so the distance between the bell and the frame is different between the two.

There have also been changes of the location the z bar attaches to the bell and changes of location to where the z bar attaches to the frame. That change effected the angles and lengths of the arms on the z bar itself as well. Essentially, you need to have the location of the frame pivot stud for the z bar and the pivot stud location on the bell in line with each other so the z bar pivots squarely and evenly. Then you need the z bar to have the correct length so it doesn't bind or fall out. The finally, the arms on the z bar have to be in the correct position to line up with its corresponding end, at the correct angle and be of proper length to release and apply pressure on the throwout arm (which also has to match the bell).

The problem is, most car body lines had z bars and pivot points for specific body/motor/bell arrangements, and those changed at least 2 times for at least A & B body cars that I can think of off hand. I'm just not sure when those changes were made between about 65 and 75. Now you want to add trucks into the equation. Trucks could have been ordered with a whole slew of combinations from hydraulic to mechanical linkage, slant 6 to small block to big block to diesel, from 3 speed, to car 4 speed, OD 4 speed, heavy duty 4 speed, to 5 and 6 speeds.

You have a pile of parts and want us to tell you everything is going to fit? OK, it will all fit, you may have to make some modifications. I suggest you start with the z bar that was attached to the bell you are going to use, and plan on modifying the pivot point and z bar arm length to match your truck on the frame side. Gene