When I got my roadster it was missing a brake rod, so I made one to match the one on the car. That worked OK with the old stock brakes, but when I recently installed new lined brake shoes both rods were too short to reach the control shaft. They were 53", and the original rods are 54". So today I made them longer.
I added enough thread to a pair of 5/16-24 bolts to match the threads on an original rod, cut the heads off, and cut enough off the rods to make each rod & bolt combination 54" long.
All I had to do then was weld them together, ...
...grind off the bumps, ...
...smooth the grinding, ...
...and shoot on a couple of coats of high dollar chassis paint. Ready to use when the paint dries.
That's how I did mine, as well.
I wonder if that always comes up when the lined break shoes are used. I have 2 T's that have lined break shoes and when I installed them the break rods seemed shorter.
The rods were still long enough but just barely to be safe after adjusting them.