cptbarkey

got it thanks, helicoil to the rescue, appreciate the quick response!

I have a 97 legacy brighton manual i purchased as a project. The guy i bought it from complained the clutch was out, in actuality the pivot ball had come loose from the transmission and was hanging freely on the clutch fork retainer pins. i went ahead and pulled the engine anyway, re-did a bunch of seals etc. My problem now is the clutch fork just doesnt seem to have long enough arms to reach the throwout bearing if i screw the pivot ball in the upper hole (see picture). http://imgur.com/sOrH4wp the upper hole has threads, and the pivot ball fits fine, the lower hole is not threaded and the pivot ball would just fall out when the clutch fork moves. In the upper hole, the clutch fork does not have enough length to reach the input shaft so i can clip on the throwout bearing. i looked at a few pictures and it seems that a hydraulic clutch fork from a later model has arms long enough to reach he throwout bearing, i could easily enough cut out a spot to attach the clutch pedal cable, and drill a small hole for the spring. is the lower hole supposed to be threaded? was it stripped out perhaps? i dont know for sure. does anyone have any advice? Should I somehow weld the pivot ball to the lower hole? I dont think that is an option honestly. I am confused how this thing worked in the first place.