I think I got the shaft here

Ok guys, I have not messed with a 4 speed in 40 years. I am going to assume that you are talking about the left side in the pic below. the side that has the longest tube. I am also going to assume that it needs to be 7 " total length. is that the side that goes next to the tranny. I have never installed a 4 speed tranny being converted from an automatic before. this is new to me. I am not even sure I can do this. But I am going to try. I just bought the clutch kit and flywheel for my son for Christmas. I am going to be asking a lot of questions in the future. One of the arms on this z-bar looks like it is bent very slightly. can it be heated and straightened and be ok. I only want to do this once. pic below.