"Theres got to be a better way. Surely someone has a 4 stroke in a LT 40."
My first plane about three years ago was an LT-40 with a Saito 56. I spent a lot of time trying to bend a rod to make it work. What I ended up using was a flexible metal cable inside the plastic tube. Redrill the firewall and put it where you have a straight shot at the throttle arm. Each end is secured with an ez link. When there is room I add a backup ez link on the cable in case the primary one gets loose. That way I can still close the throttle. This is the only method I have used on several models. Throttle hookup is generally painless. From your photos it appears you will need to run it above the tank if there is clearance. You should have a lot of fun with that plane.