utah, the later pedals had a snap in ball and socket joint. that's what you saw on ebay. I think instead of cut and weld, I like your idea of cut and thread and use the coupler you're referring to with nuts to lock next to the coupler. I can see the benefit to tweaking the length until you have it exactly how you like it. you can always weld later if you want.
Larry
Old man᠁Old truck᠁neither one goes very fast. All you need in life is TIME, PATIENCE and MONEY.
If you are missing one component, you'll need an abundance of the others two.
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