Pedal alignment

Talk about the E-Type Series 1
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TGN
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#1 Pedal alignment

Post by TGN » Wed Aug 24, 2022 11:24 pm

I feel like I’ve read every thread on brake pedal height and adjustment that I can find.

I’m still none the wiser on how to bring the clutch and brake pedal more inline with the accelerator pedal.
It’s currently nigh on impossible to heel be toe, which is fairly essential with a Moss box.

I’m coming to the conclusion the pedal levers need heating and bending to suit, this feels quite a drastic solution though.

What am I missing ?
It’s a Kelsey Hayes setup

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Trevor.
62 FHC 8607**, 64 Panhard 24CT, 68 Mini Cooper, Caterham 7, 64 Mini pickup

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bitsobrits
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#2 Re: Pedal alignment

Post by bitsobrits » Thu Aug 25, 2022 1:57 am

My experience is with a LHD car, but I believe the pedal adjustment process is the same for all S1 cars before the change to the S2 type pedal box. It took me a couple of tries over a summer to get the brake pedal to the point where heel/toe comes naturally (for me).

The brake pedal can be clocked to the desired position (roughly 25mm higher than the throttle) by repositioning it on the splined pivot shaft. It's not a trivial job (I remove the pedal box for this) but I believe it may be possible to do the required disassembly/re-clock/re-assembly on the car if you don't mind faffing about in the footwell. Moving the pedal towards the firewall (which is likely your goal as it appears from your photo) will then require a shorter pushrod. I made a simple adjustable pushrod from a stainless clevis and bolt with the head cut off and ground round and smooth. The adjustability is essential to provide the small amount of free play required for proper operation.

If you then want to have the clutch pedal match the brake pedal, then a shorter pushrod and/or a spacer is required. The spacer is the preferred method as it maintains the full stroke of the pedal. It's installed between the clutch master and the pedal box on the engine side of the firewall. Because of mechanical ratio of the clutch pedal, a fairly thin spacer (~4mm) will move the pedal around 25mm or so. I have yet to install a spacer on my car, though I've measured for the required thickness by loosening the nuts on the master mounting studs allowing the master, and therefore the pedal, to move forward to my target position. Just need to get it drawn up to be fabricated.

So lots of work to get to the goal, but once done it's very nice, you won't need to do it again, and it's completely reversible.
Steve
'65 S1 4.2 FHC (early)

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abowie
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#3 Re: Pedal alignment

Post by abowie » Thu Aug 25, 2022 4:56 am

You can buy or make an offset brake pedal pad that sits closer to the accelerator.https://mossmotors.com/brake-clutch-pedal-offset

The accelerator pedal height can be adjusted. There is a plate C20639 attached to the 3 studs that hold the pedal box in place. This can be slid fore and aft to set the pedal height.

Alternatively you can drill and tap the driver's side (back) of the housing for a bolt which does the same thing.

If you need the accelerator pedal higher you can glue or rivet material on it to make it thicker.

You can change the angle of the accelerator pedal by bending it.
Andrew.
881824, 1E21538. 889457. 1961 4.3l Mk2. 1975 XJS. 1979 MGB (supercharged).
Adelaide, Australia

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TGN
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#4 Re: Pedal alignment

Post by TGN » Thu Aug 25, 2022 7:36 am

Yes moving the brake and clutch towards the firewall is the goal.

I think I misunderstood the spline adjustment to getting just the brake and clutch pedal equal.
I thought I’d found the answer with adding a spacer to the master cylinders, which would do a similar job to adjustable pushrods. But on inspection the previous owner has already added spacers.

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This has left the output of the lower master cylinder perilously cost to one of the frame rails.

Andrew I did consider adding some material to the face of the accelerator but concluded this was a solution to fix an underlying problem. I’m happy with the pedal width spacing relative to each other, a little more leg room would be nice.

I have fosseway calipers upfront and Zeus on the rear which gives a very nice pedal feel and minimal travel.
I have a suspicion that the current set up would work far better for heel and toe, if I had standard calipers front and rear the free play in them would allow a longer pedal travel.

Image

I guess if I remove the spacers from the master cylinder the pedals will end up on the bulkhead like other photos I’ve seen.
Trevor.
62 FHC 8607**, 64 Panhard 24CT, 68 Mini Cooper, Caterham 7, 64 Mini pickup

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bitsobrits
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#5 Re: Pedal alignment

Post by bitsobrits » Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:25 pm

If you remove the spacers without making other changes the brake pedal will move closer to you. It appears someone previously got the brake pedal position wrong and tried to use MC spacers to correct that. There is no need for spacers on the brake MCs, only on the clutch MC, and there only to adjust clutch pedal height.

Only the brake pedal has splines which engage the pivot shaft. The clutch pedal just has a bushing.

Once you go changing the brake pedal height from the factory position you will need an adjustable pushrod to ensure you have a very small amount of free play to ensure no brake pressure with the pedal released.
Steve
'65 S1 4.2 FHC (early)

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TGN
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#6 Re: Pedal alignment

Post by TGN » Sun Aug 28, 2022 8:50 pm

There’s really room to adjust it in there

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Trevor.
62 FHC 8607**, 64 Panhard 24CT, 68 Mini Cooper, Caterham 7, 64 Mini pickup

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#7 Re: Pedal alignment

Post by bitsobrits » Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:06 am

I think you misunderstand the brake pedal adjustment procedure. To change the pedal angle, you have to loosen the clamp bolt near the pivot shaft (up inside the pedal box) and slide the main brake pivot shaft out of the brake pedal, then re-clock the pedal to the new position. This of course requires the brake master cylinder lever is disconnected and out of the way, and same for the clutch. While it's not technically difficult, it is a right PITA to do this on the car, which is why I removed the entire pedal box. If you are careful, you can remove the pedal box without disconnecting any of the hydraulic lines.
Steve
'65 S1 4.2 FHC (early)

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