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Z-Bar help........what the ?

2K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Scottrn 
#1 · (Edited)
OK, I'm getting a little bored with once a month having to grab a can of WD40, and hose down the bar ends in my Z-Bar.
Especially with the rear header an 1/4 INCH from the mounting ball, burning away the lube in super speedy time. And believe me, it gets annoying when the clutch pedal starts to get jerky when you first start the car/truck.... :(
I have seen and read that the Z-Bar is a "maintenance item" with a grease fitting, but I have run my up and down that bar, and I just CAN NOT find a Zerk fitting to pump grease into. Isn't there supposed to be a Zerk on a Z-Bar??? I provided a pic of my Z-Bar, and as you can see, no Zerk on top, and I promise I have run my hand under it a dozen or more times. Is it possible a Zerk is just millimeters out of my grasp?
Is there supposed to even be a Zerk fitting to grease the Z-Bar? If anyone is familiar with this issue, please advise....because at this point, if I had any hair, I'd be pulling it out.

Oh.....1981 El Camino with a Factory Saginaw 4-Speed, and a 229 Chevy V6 replaced with a SmallBlock.

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#2 ·
I'm not sure if the factory part came with a zerk, but this picture of an aftermarket bar out of a kit clearly shows one mounted. It's possible the zerk on your part sheared off cleanly, in which case you would need to remove the bar and extract the broken piece.

If you remove the bar there's no zerk, you could drill and tap a hole and mount one, so long as the bar is hollow all the way through.

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#3 ·
Pull it out and slap in some high-temp bearing grease. It's good for 500°C +. Standard grease (I believe) is only good for upto @ 300°C.

Might also want to use some exhaust tape on that section of the header, keep some of that radiant heat away from the Z-bar, preventing most heat transfer to components up-down the line.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the replies. Based on the picture that PVDave posted, I have figured it out. I have been looking for something that just isn't there.......a Grease Fitting. It took a bit of yoga stretching, but I got my fingers to the spot where it SHOULD be, and once I set my brain to not look for what's there, but feel for what's NOT there, I found the little hole where a Zerk is supposed to be screwed in. So that is the answer. Either the Zerk fell out, or someone took it out and never put one back.
I just went out again and looked with a flashlight. It doesn't look like this is a terribly difficult hole to get to, if I was standing under the car, and it was on a lift. If I can do that, I ought to be able to screw a Zerk back in, and grease the thing up. With bearing grease as Karadjgne mentioned. ;)
So again, thanks for the replies, mystery solved!!!
 
#5 ·
LOL......No way!!!
I just checked my tool box and I found these. Dear Lord, these must be decades old!!!! They are completely covered in dust!
And they are metric. I'm hoping, since I have heard more people refer to the GM A/G Body cars as the Metric GM's, that these fit. I guess we'll see...... :)

Thanks again guys, Bikerlaw

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#6 · (Edited)
LOL......No way!!!
I just checked my tool box and I found these. Dear Lord, these must be decades old!!!! They are completely covered in dust!
And they are metric. I'm hoping, since I have heard more people refer to the GM A/G Body cars as the Metric GM's, that these fit. I guess we'll see...... :)

Thanks again guys, Bikerlaw

View attachment 141901
For future reference, Harbor Freight has standard and metric zerk fittings in multi paks on their shelves.
In case anyone needs them.
 
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