No zing to it, Rich, if you keep working at it you will figure it out. That's what I always have to do. And you have to entertain the idea that you don't really always know the whole story, and go try to find it out.
Actually, you remind me of a young feller named Diamond Jim -- he disagreed with me just about the very first thing he posted (it was about air filters as I recall). I kept encouraging him to try out his ideas and he did, and he posted them.
Jim built about 5-6 variations of his laminar flow air system before he was done with it, and as a by-blow he created arguably the most beautiful Savage I have ever seen, the one called Black Beauty.
So anyway, keep on thinking and experimenting and doing -- don't let being wrong occasionally slow you up for much as you go do that.
I always reserve the right to be wrong on occasion -- keeps me human.
If you can actually verbally explain the
real motion of the clutch pack as it wears you will have done something I haven't been able to do.
You've promised pictures too, remember.
There is always lots of "apparent" free play in the system (clearance between the lever shaft and the eccentric) what you have to be able to sense is the correct clearance between rod tip and the powdered metal eccentric.
To do that, you apply a light load similar to the force of a rubber band to take up all the apparent nonsense slack and move the eccentric gently to show the true position of the lever.
Note that the eccentric has a return spring of its very own and the rubber band force has to be calibrated to be able to move this separate small stiff return spring or you aren't really moving anything that counts.
The lever (with the small rubber band up force) should point between the marks on the case when you are done. This "between the marks" shows you the rod length is correct for the wear state of your clutch.
What has surprised me as I have messed with it repeatedly is that we only get to use about half of the total adjustment range reflected out of the upper handle bar adjustment and the lower locking nut adjustment before we get to change out the rods again. This seems strange to me, like the clutch cable is a generic part that doesn't really correctly fit the realities of our engine.
Yes, the Savage clutch comes off as slightly under par sometimes, why do you think I keep dreaming up ways to put extra plates into it?