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.