Clutch Z-bar alignment

[Detour]

When I bought the truck the previous owner claimed his son replaced the clutch and forgot to put the "ball" back on the linkage. I had to bury the pedal in the floor to stop or shift. Tough drive home... As part of the bigger project I ordered new ball studs from LMC and finally got around to installing them this weekend.
Now the Z-rod was at a very steep angle before and was rubbing through the frame.. or someone had clearanced it for the steep angle. After pulling it out I found that both sides had the ball studs, but someone had re-welded the frame side arm and melted the nylon bushings inside the tube. After scraping that all out and installing the new parts I found that the Z-bar will not fit. I even chiseled out the rivets on the frame bracket to see if that would help me get it aligned.
In order to get both ball studs seated properly and close to level I would need to raise the engine side ball stud up 1.5"(+/-).
Does anyone have any advice on what is going on here?
Pictures do not have the engine ball stud installed. The previous stud was in the hole below the oil dipstick tube (removed because it broke). Engine mounts are intact and do not appear damaged.
67 'K20, 327, SM420, Z-bar is 7-1/4" long.

[Accelo]

Appears to me that the motor may be too low.
Wondering if the frame brackets are correct. Could they be BBC or six cylinder brackets?

However, the factory bar is straight, like the one shown.
I understand the frame bracket can not be lowered before it contacts the frame.

Not all SBC had the stud location the same. But unlikely this is the issue.
Can you get pictures of the frame brackets?

Unrelated is the spark plugs are missing the exhaust heat shields.

[CAMAROBOY68SS]

Looks like your frame bracket is backwards as well. My bracket is still riveted to the frame. Will note that my whole setup is I6 stuff as my truck was originally a 292 truck and the V8 was just swapped with all the mounts in the I6 rearward location, but bracket would be similar in setup on the forward V8 spot.

[CAMAROBOY68SS]

Also now looking more at your setup, your in the I6 location as well, the rod coming from the pedal to the Z bar and the Z bar itself is different over the V8 stuff, that would also be causing your issue.

[Accelo]

I found this while looking around the internet.
I see your truck is a 4-wheel drive and this is 2-wheel drive.
I now find myself wondering why they are different.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by Accelo

I found this while looking around the internet.
I see your truck is a 4-wheel drive and this is 2-wheel drive.
I now find myself wondering why they are different.

2WD trucks use that funny plate with the engine side support ball attached to it to accommodate the engine being in a farther forward position than on 4WD. On 4WD, the support ball just threads right into the engine block.

In '67, 2WD V8 trucks used a straight upper clutch rod and a frame bracket with a bumped in section to it facing inward. All other years and '67 4WD V8 trucks used the square bracket flipped outward to accommodate the "dog leg" upper clutch rod and wider z-bar. Detour's frame bracket, z-bar and upper clutch rod all look correct to me.

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=847345

I agree with Accelo's statement that the engine is sitting too low, or the transmission is hanging extremely low, or maybe it's a combination of the two.

[Detour]

I know the motor isn't original, it's a mix of older full size car parts but it seems to be healthy. Also don't know for sure what the original engine was, but was told it was a 327.
I know the frame side bracket is on correct because I drilled and chiseled the factory rivets off.
How would the engine be sitting to low? This is how I felt while looking at it, but the mounts don't look collapsed vs pictures of new ones I see online.
The upper clutch rod is worn almost halfway through, but haven't found a replacement online. May have to weld the gap up and grind to size.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by Detour

I know the motor isn't original, it's a mix of older full size car parts but it seems to be healthy. Also don't know for sure what the original engine was, but was told it was a 327.
I know the frame side bracket is on correct because I drilled and chiseled the factory rivets off.
How would the engine be sitting to low? This is how I felt while looking at it, but the mounts don't look collapsed vs pictures of new ones I see online.
The upper clutch rod is worn almost halfway through, but haven't found a replacement online. May have to weld the gap up and grind to size.

Does your engine crossmember look like this one?



http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=634117

[Detour]

Originally Posted by Jason Banks

Look through the pictures in this build thread:

Scroll down to post 89 ....

Thanks for that help. Looking at his engine I think that the threaded boss for the ball stud is in a different location. Mine is below the oil dipstick tube, where is engine is to the right of it... which is the are mine is if I lift it close to level.

Pictures below

Originally Posted by Jason Banks

I wonder if your truck was originally a 6 cyl? Does VIN start with KS or KE? Might have 6 cyl engine crossmember somehow?

KE which is a V8

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Does your engine crossmember look like this one?

Yes It looks the same if not very close.

[Jason Banks]

Look through the pictures in this build thread:

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...=841272&page=4

Scroll down to post 89 and you can see the bracket on your frame is the same as on Clay's truck.

He has pictures of his Z-bar and other parts, but I couldn't find if he had any pics of the whole thing assembled.

[Jason Banks]

I wonder if your truck was originally a 6 cyl? Does VIN start with KS or KE? Might have 6 cyl engine crossmember somehow?

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by Jason Banks

I wonder if your truck was originally a 6 cyl? Does VIN start with KS or KE? Might have 6 cyl engine crossmember somehow?

It would have had the other style of frame bracket like CAMAROBOY68SS has if it were a factory 6cyl truck.

[Jason Banks]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

It would have had the other style of frame bracket like CAMAROBOY68SS has if it were a factory 6cyl truck.

That's right, just looked at my 6cyl truck. Oops...