the rod you mention is prolly the middle of the 3 sections of throttle linkage .... not important until you free the engine, or pull the head to see if the cylinders are rusted beyond use

Bill


Moved over to the Passing Lane

"When we tug a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world" ~ John Muir
"When we tug a single thing on an old truck, we find it falls off" ~ me
Some TF series details & TF heater pics