Apparatus for connecting a longitudinal member to a bone portion

An apparatus comprising:

• a longitudinal member connectable with a bone portion;
• a fastener engageable with the bone portion having a longitudinal axis and connecting said longitudinal member to the bone portion;
• a housing having a first passage through which said longitudinal member extends, said housing having a second passage with a longitudinal axis extending transverse to said first passage, said fastener extending through an opening in said housing into said second passage and being movable relative to said housing, said longitudinal axis of said fastener being positionable in any one of a plurality of angular positions relative to said longitudinal axis of said second passage;
• a spacer received in said second passage of said housing and engageable with said fastener and said longitudinal member;
• a member fixedly connected to said housing and extending from said housing into engagement with said spacer to maintain said spacer in frictional engagement with said fastener to prevent relative movement between said fastener and said housing when said longitudinal member is disengaged from said spacer and said spacer engages said fastener, said fastener and said housing being manually movable relative to each other in opposition to said frictional engagement when said longitudinal member is disengaged from said spacer;
• and
• a clamping mechanism that clamps said longitudinal member, said spacer, and said housing to said fastener to prevent movement of said fastener relative to said housing.