Doomstein

Well. the quadrant that I had thought had melted like a grilled cheese sandwich was a nice Ford Racing billet aluminum jobbie. It was so covered in fire extinguisher dust and melted rubber from the firewall that it looked like it was the OEM plastic one until I had actually removed it. Once I removed it I inspected it to make sure it wasn't cracked or anything, and it looked to be in good shape. I had bought a three hook aluminum quadrant from Latemodel Restoration and I was wondering if I should keep the 4-5 year old ford racing quadrant or swap it out for the new one.

It turns out that the problem with the clutch is actually the cable. It seems as though the fire had melted the outside of the cable enough to cause it to bind and fail. I'm almost finished swapping it out, but I have a question:

On the end of the cable, the point where the cable attaches to the fork on the transmission, there's a bolt. If I tighten it down to where there's no slack on the cable, there's too much bolt protruding and the transmisison dust cover won't fit back on. If I choke down on the bolt enough to where the dust cover will fit, there's slack on the cable. The cable is hooked up to the tightest tooth on the new quadrant, what should I do? Is there supposed to be a little slack? Do I cut the end of the bolt with a hack saw?

Any advice would be appreciated.