Digging into my one rusty area I found that apparently the PO welded the clutch cable end fitting to the tube that comes out of the tunnel at the fire wall, then fastened the tube with a U bolt.
Am I wrong in assuming that's not the right way?

The clutch tube runs through the tunnel and is welded to the firewall (where your PO has u bolted it). The the clutch cable end fits (into or around, I forget) the clutch tube. I have no idea why yours is welded. I have no advice for a proper fix, but someone will chime in. good luck

WOW that looks like... Okay first I would do an archive search for clutch tube repair. There recently was avery good one, that someone had actually removed the center tunnel and cut it open to show the inner workings of the clutch tube location and various other cables and tubes.
It appears that there may be no clutch tube and the po just clamped down the cable housing.
CCLINTUBED

Your clutch tube has broken loose from the firewall. chances are it is broke loose in the tunnel also.

Yikes...I hope you own a welder. All that loose metal should be attached. Looks like the PO did the U bolt fix to stop the tube from wandering and patch fix shifting problems he was having.

My clutch tube came loose sometime in the history of the car. The bad part was that they hacked through the tunnel to get to it and covered the mess with duct tape. The good news is they finally found the proper location and tacked it solid. That seperation of firewall to floor pan definitley needs attention. Check this thread Clutch Tube Repair

That is kind of what I thought...He tried to do a haywire fix, but the clutch tube still moved a bit, making the clutch hard to keep adjusted.
The tube is in the tunnel, and dosn't seem rusty, but how is it supposed to be attached inside the tunnel?
As far as welding is concerned, no problem. I have it all the equipment except TIG, and spent many years doing that for a living.
I'm just happy that that is the only rusty spot.

Thanks Headrage, now I know what I need to do......Great info here!