gear hub indicator rod substitution: rod too long?

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Hi there,

I'm trying to repair an old bike mounting a Sachs Torpedo 3 gear hub.
Some time ago I lost the plastic piece which connects the cable to the
indicator rod and short after I also lost the indicator chain/rod
which fits inside the hub.

Now I found these two items on eBay, but when I tryed to mount the rod
it was too long and looked out some millimeters (like in the pictures
linked under): in the pictures the hub is in 3rd gear, this means that
in 1st gear the rod would look out another centimeter (it's impossible
to change gear with a transversal force)

http://a972.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/121/l_6c2c7a96d0825a129e2d1f33b9e19a03.jpg
http://a70.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/16/l_fd0feeecc48c1f5265abe95a046611b5.jpg
http://a516.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/83/l_ce2abdda2eb2fa61fe81d5cffed2f5d3.jpg

I did a research on the internet and found two shops which sell this
items as the indicator rod for the 3-speed gear hub:
http://www.fahrrad-richter.de/product_info.php?products_id=1097
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Sachs-Sachs-T3-Indicator-chain-and-rod-(toggle-chain)-5066.htm
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk//images/products/5066sachs3x7toggle_xl.jpg


if I compare them, my rod is evidently longer
http://a665.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/86/l_8ba58deafc0e99b7f60b5a2f00e05460.jpg
http://a315.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/4/l_0194303d8fe9f89e4b1bc25118910b32.jpg

my questions is:
is this perhaps the rod for the 5-speed gear hub?or is there another
reason why it looks out so much?
is there a solution like changing the nut with a longer one or
mounting something like this?--> http://www.dahon.com/components/deluxe/spectro.htm


thanks

Christian