I wish that I had arctic's library of photos.
As you say, a picture speaks a thousand words. I would agree that the length of thread left exposed varies from door to door. I have replaced three actuators in my years of 75 ownership and they all varied. I usually start with around 10mm exposed and work from there. You can wrap a bit of copper or fuse wire around the clip as a temporary measure to ease the on and off routine until the correct setting is obtained.
