And now for the current projects...
Rally bug is up on axle stands for re-prep and upgrades. It's done 200,000km in four years, and as usual I have some ideas for improvements. Started stripping it down and creating a list.$
One of the things I
need to change is the stock pedal set. I've done various modifications along the way, but the key point is it has failed twice. One of the failures was the brake clevis pin, leaving us with only the hand brake on a twisty mountain downhill in Colorado. The last modification for the pedals was to convert them from cable clutch to hydraulic, and to do that I stuffed a master cylinder inside the tunnel. It was such a brutal job to get it all lined up and attached, I promised myself the next time it came out I would replace the pedals with a proper pedal box.
Well, the accelerator pedal setup keeps breaking...so out came the pedals.
...and, this is where the problems start. Measuring out the car, there isn't a pedal box made that will fit. Surprisingly it's not the distance away from the seat, or fitting the master cylinders, it's the width. I always figured it would be squeezing in the masters, and I could use the Tilton master-under-foot setup if needed, but it's wider than I thought and won't fit.
I do have an older Tilton setup with the masters behind the pedals, but it's too wide to fit in the car. I could raise it 1.5", above the heater channel, but then my legs don't fit. Well, as a good buddy of mine is fond of saying, "God hates a coward..." and so, here we go!
That photo shows me milling 0.75" out of the space between the clutch and the brake pedal. I did mill all the way through making my pedal set two pieces. Of course, I had to mill out two new mounting holes for the clutch pedal at the same time. With 3/4" taken out of the pedal set, I can get it
just narrow enough to fit the car. A bonus I didn't expect was the ability to fit a proper dead-pedal in, which is nice. With the dead pedal, however, the pedals do end up 1/2" closer to the driver...so I'm going to have to space out the steering wheel and move the shifter and hand brake. It's not the end of the world, but adds to the work level.
I love a good night in the shop when you lose track of time. Looked up to check if it was dinner time, as I was feeling a little hungry...whoops, it's midnight. :P