Accelerator Pedal suggestion

[carbuff]

Does anyone have a suggestion for an aftermarket accelerator pedal setup that would offer a larger pedal surface, possible some position adjustability, and would bolt-in relatively easily to a 2nd gen F-body?

During my school last weekend, I quickly realized that my pedals are not conducive to heel/toe usage. Eric has even made a spacer already to move the accelerator pedal out from the firewall some, but it's just such a small pedal that it is hard to straddle the 2 surfaces.

I love the Joe's pedal that Rob got for that project he seems to have stopped work on, but I'm not sure if I could mount it in the floor area of a second gen. The Z/28's for 70 had a floor-mounted pedal that might work, but it still uses the original rod/level assembly, so I think it may still be too close to the floor in that case.

Any suggestions?

[Damn True]

Id suggest looking instead at modifying your brake pedal arm.

[Sieg]

Bryan,

I built my own, maybe it will give you some ideas. I designed the bracket so the pedal is .75" closer to the plain of the brake pedal. Big difference when rev matching under braking.

http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showpost.php4?p=489835&postcount=1461

[Damn True]

That'll work too.

[Flash68]

Yep. You have Eric at your disposal (well, when he is not doing all of SW's killer stuff). So use him. This would be a piece of cake. :thumbsup:

[carbuff]

Bryan,

I built my own, maybe it will give you some ideas. I designed the bracket so the pedal is .75" closer to the plain of the brake pedal. Big difference when rev matching under braking.

http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showpost.php4?p=489835&postcount=1461

I like that idea... I have the Modo pedal setup, too bad they don't make a larger matching pedal.

Eric has TOW right now doing a few things before my auto-x this weekend. She's headed back to him next week for some more work, so maybe we'll work on something like this. Thanx for the pics!

[Sieg]

Possibly fab a new mounting bracket the extends the Modo pedal towards you?

[carbuff]

We're actually already done that. It's between 1/2" and 3/4" away from the firewall already. There's just too much space between the brake and gas pedals right now.

Did you use a spring on your pedal, similar to the original setup? And where did you get the u-shaped piece, did you make it?

[Sieg]

I used the stock spring and pin. I cut the U piece from out of rectangular tubing and tacked the other plate in there for a spring stop. I actually like the smooth surface of the pedal for daily driving as there isn't any noticeable friction and the 3M grip tape works well for catching the side under braking.

I might add a few 1/4" - 5/6" chamfered holes in the smooth surface just for design detail/appearance.

[GregWeld]

Get good drivers shoes too! You MUST be able to feel what you're doing... Tennis shoes etc aren't going to cut it no matter how close the pedals are.

[Flash68]

Eric has even made a spacer already to move the accelerator pedal out from the firewall some

Possibly fab a new mounting bracket the extends the Modo pedal towards you?

:sieg:


:peepwall:

[GregWeld]

Sieg is old... that whole short term memory thing.... LOL

[glassman]

Get good drivers shoes too! You MUST be able to feel what you're doing... Tennis shoes etc aren't going to cut it no matter how close the pedals are.

Totally. I use Sketchers for my "performance" driving, while not a drivers shoe, they have a rounded heal perfect for articulation....tennies just dont cut it with there pointiness...

[GregWeld]

I actually don't know why they call it heel and toe anyway -- it's really the side of your foot -- the big toe plus on the brake and the right side of the ball of your foot blipping the gas.

Something else they'll teach you in driving school --- the brakes are for stopping -- the motor is for going.... In other words --- don't use compression for braking.


Rev matching is for the transmission and so you don't get compression - which really upsets the car.

[Vegas69]

That's great unless you autocross. I realize that type of consciousness is in the rear view mirror. :mock:

[Sieg]

:sieg:


:peepwall:

Sieg is old... that whole short term memory thing.... LOL

I earned this smilie fair and square :sieg:

Bryan - Maybe you need an extension that is wider than Dave's "racing" stripes or thicker than GW's lifts. :whistling:

My pedal surface is 1-1/8" from the pivot pin centerline. I can add aluminum spacers if I want to move it out farther. I may add a 1/4" spacer and see how it feels under hard braking. The 1/4" would probably be better for casual around town driving but I attempted to find the happy medium within both pedals range of movement.

[hifi875]

how about one of these

[Sieg]

how about one of these

hifi FTW! :lmao:

[Rod P]

Get good drivers shoes too! You MUST be able to feel what you're doing... Tennis shoes etc aren't going to cut it no matter how close the pedals are.

I use driving shoes and Van shoes we used them for years as kids skate boarding and now driving...tennis shoe really do mess up your foot movement,,,great for tennis and running suck for performance driving

[carbuff]

Get good drivers shoes too! You MUST be able to feel what you're doing... Tennis shoes etc aren't going to cut it no matter how close the pedals are.

Agreed, and I have a set from a long time ago. :) I haven't used them yet, but as I get more accustomed to the car, that will become part of the driving suit. :)

[carbuff]

I actually don't know why they call it heel and toe anyway -- it's really the side of your foot -- the big toe plus on the brake and the right side of the ball of your foot blipping the gas.


That has always confused me too... I don't think I've driven a car that I could actually use my heel on either pedal to do this without turning my knee 90*! :headscratch:

[carbuff]

Thanx again for the tips Sieg. I talked to Eric about it today, and we're going to try and do something similar to your setup. I was driving this afternoon and was just that much more conscious of needing to do something to resolve this.

[Sieg]

Thanx again for the tips Sieg. I talked to Eric about it today, and we're going to try and do something similar to your setup. I was driving this afternoon and was just that much more conscious of needing to do something to resolve this.
Hope it helps. :thumbsup:

It doesn't matter how dial your motor, suspension, and brakes are if you don't have good (precise) input control over the throttle and brakes!

[carbuff]

Time to followup on this... I picked up TOW today, and got to try out the new pedal setup. Thanx again Sieg for the idea! Eric did something very similar to yours with a couple of changes.

From what I understand, he used the Modo pedal which I already had installed as the 'base' to mount the new pedal on top of. That worked since it was already there, and was metal and thus strong enough for this purpose. He modified it in a neat way which allow me to adjust the point in the rotation at which the rotation stops and the pedal rod starts moving. He did this by tapping a set screw into the Modo pedal which pushes against the rod. Pretty neat.

Also, he made me a set of spacers that allow me to easily bring the pedal closer to me by adding 1 at a time (about 0.1" thick each I believe). Right now I have 2 installed, with one more available.

I have to adjust my driving a little now with this new pedal. I was so accustomed to angling my foot off the brake pad, but I don't need to do that anymore. I blipped the throttle pretty good the first time I hit the brakes. Oops. :)

Here are a couple of pictures of the final product...

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/carbuff69/1971%20Firebird%20Formula%20-%20Project%20TOW/IMG_20140312_201508_zpspiod2a22.jpg (http://s100.photobucket.com/user/carbuff69/media/1971%20Firebird%20Formula%20-%20Project%20TOW/IMG_20140312_201508_zpspiod2a22.jpg.html)

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/carbuff69/1971%20Firebird%20Formula%20-%20Project%20TOW/IMG_20140312_201543_zpsejbujadh.jpg (http://s100.photobucket.com/user/carbuff69/media/1971%20Firebird%20Formula%20-%20Project%20TOW/IMG_20140312_201543_zpsejbujadh.jpg.html)

[GregWeld]

Eric is a master!


Looks great Bryan!



Now get down here to FW!!