Heim joint hand built clutch release rod

Just curious if there would be any interest in my custom Z-bar and clutch release rods I make. I’ve made several sets and they work great! Less sloppy, and a smoother feel when releasing the clutch.

I did mine the same way about 20 years ago. Works well.

I would be interested in one. I'm using an American Powertrain hydraulic throwout bearing kit on my 68 Coronet which comes with a generic threaded rod, heim joint and coupler arrangement to actuate the master cylinder. See pic.

Unfortunately, the eyelet on the supplied rod end is too small and does not fit over the factory clutch rod pin on the pedal. Looked around for a different rod end but was having a tough time finding an eyelet big enough to fit over the pin and couple to the smaller rod. It would take a series of adapters which are not easy to find.The rod gets threaded into the master coupler on the firewall which I believe is 5/16-24.

As you can see in the pic, they supply a shouldered bolt to attach the eyelet to the pedal but I'd rather not drill the pedal. I also want to use the factory pin to maintain a somewhat correct pedal ratio.

If your using a hydraulic system you wont need the pushrod unless you still use the factory z bar assy and the factory z bar just pushes a slave cylinder.

I can make one for you. You just have to knock the factory lug off the clutch pedal assembly, drill to 3/8, and do the same on the Z bar and drill to 3/8. Then Ill need a length to make the rod from the clutch pedal to the Z bar.

Very nice.
A Heim joint provides some misalignment, but how it handles this differs based on tension or compression. In tension it tries to become shorter by making a right angle (or as close as possible).
In compression it's the opposite, the end will always move to the farthest point of lateral travel on both ends (making a "Z"), so try to align it as close to 90 degrees as possible.

Yes, that's partially true with the hyd. T.O.B. since there's no longer any fork involved but I still need something from the pedal to the master cylinder.

Unfortunately though If I have to get rid of the factory clutch rod pin and drill a hole in the pedal to use your setup, (which is what i was trying to avoid) I might as well use what I have since I have to do that already to make it work. Yours looks better than whats in the kit for sure though!

Sorry for the confusion.

After you sand the nubbin on the oposite side of the lug on both the Z bar, and the Clutch pedal then that lug knocks through with a punch and a few whacks. the hole is only like 5/16 ish, so the 3/8 drill is required as the 5/16 heim stuff is really puny.

What you need to finish the job is a couple of dust cups that can be ordered
with the heims.. I put them on the 2 cars that I had with a stick shift... keeps
it clean for years

mr. P, are those cups the rubber washer type you put on both sides of the heim, or is it the rubber "bootie" type that is sort of a pain to install over the heim ?

They are thin metal

thanks mr. P !

Moparnut,

what is the material you make them out of, aluminum, stainless, mild steel? I may have a request to make one to replace what I have here, for my hydraulic clutch: This is a 6" aluminum adjusting sleeve I got from McMaster with 5/16-24 thread, but I prefer something a little more robust. I still have to stay with the 5/16-24 thread though because that is what comes off the slave cylinder. So steel or stainless tubing might be better. The adjusting sleeve has to be about 7"

I didn't want to cut off the factory lug to install the rod to the American Powertrain hydraulic clutch, so I simply drilled a hole in the pedal arm 4 inches down from the piviot point. That gave me the correct pedal ratio and now my clutch pedal is the same height as the brake pedal for the first time in nearly 50 years.

I didn't want to drill an new holes in my floor board where the master cylinder bolts on, but I did have to drill one new hole to get it to mount securely.

I used grade 8 hardware to mock up and get the correct dimensions on the rod. It allows for both overall length adjustment as well as a travel stop adjustment so the master cylinder won't get over stroked. I was going to make a solid spacer to replace the washers and use a solid rod with adjustable ends like you built, but I just haven't messed with it because it is so solid and works as intended.

It looks a little Rube Goldberg'ish, but it's hidden up under the dash, so no one see's it but me.

By the way, the hydraulic throw out set-up provides the best clutch feel and modulation that this car has ever had.

I know it’s an old thread, just wondering if this guy still makes them. Thanks

Mcmaster.com has everything you need. I use 7/16" rod with threaded ends for the clutch pedal and 3/8-24 grade 8l all thread for the torque shaft to clutch fork.

I have since made a similar rod for the brake system I installed on a '57 Dodge D100 chassis that's fitted on a shortened 1991 Dodge Dakota frame. The rods are very strong when using high quality components.