My Rodney machine has the same setup for the top tension. Down thru the disks, up around the little bar, thru the check spring, then the take up arm. from the take up arm follow the guides down and thread from left to right thru the needle. Other than the wonkiness at the disks , yours looks right. Is the top tension releasing when you raise the presser foot? Can you manually pull the thread when the presser foot is down? You're binding up somewhere, it's just a process of elimination.
Rodney