LHD accelerator pedal

[jjorj]

Hi,
After a long restoration my LHD 3.8 is on the road and I have started to do a few miles in it. Have really just started to notice how difficult the accelerator pedal is from terms of space and my big feet. It seems to sit somewhat lower than the brake pedal with the result that the rim of my shoe keeps getting caught when I go to move onto the brake pedal.
I have read the posts about the cable operated accelerator linkage but wonder if there is an easier fix like attaching something to the pedal to raise it or can it be adjusted in any way.
I am now very aware of the difference between LHD and RHD in this respect.
It is not a flat floor model so that is not the problem.
Perhaps some US or continental members have the solution to improving it.
Regards, George

[Mich7920]

Hi George

Definitely, the problem isn't the car...
More seriously, I don't think the cable control does something for the pedal.
It's a problem of confort for you.
Try to move the throttle pedal at the extrem right and in the same time try to do something on the rubber of the brake pedal. You can use the " big feet special shoes for E type " without any sole like the race car shoes.
The E is a small car and it's not confortable for the persons with big feet.
My feet are 12 and with my race car and the race shoes it wasn't a problem but absolutly impossible with normal shoes, the pedals space was really more narrow than in a E.
Try different solution and I hope you will fully enjoy driving your E type.

Mich

[Tbob]

I lowered the brake and clutch pedals about 2" by adding spacers behind the master cylinders. Lined them both up to the accelerator pedal. I also moved the metal pedal pads to the left.

Disclaimer:S2 car. May not work for S1

[JagWaugh]

Unless you modify the pad to move the brake farther away from the accelerator pedal it will remain a problem.

I bought a pair of shoes specially for driving the E, and got into the habit of taking my right shoe off if I happened to be wearing dress shoes.

My feet are only size 10-1/2... but triple E width.

[Mark Gordon]

The simplest solution and the one that worked for me is to loosen the nut on the back of the brake pedal and rotate the bottom of the pedal to the left.

[Jaglex]

@ Bob T:
Using spacers is a smart idea, I'd like to copy.
What thickness are the spacers you use?
If you start pushing the pedals 2" further down is the enough space left to the firewall to push the pedals to full brake and clutch fully disengaged?
This would be of great interest for me.
Thank you
Alex

[Tbob]

@ Bob T:
Using spacers is a smart idea, I'd like to copy.
What thickness are the spacers you use?
If you start pushing the pedals 2" further down is the enough space left to the firewall to push the pedals to full brake and clutch fully disengaged?

The spacers are about 7mm thick. See picture. There is still plenty of room behind the pedals to get full movement of both brake and clutch.

[Tbob]

Bonus pic. Heres my modified pedals:

I moved the brake pedal metal pad to the left as far as I could and still be in contact with the metal. (Moved the mounting pad). I made a new, wider clutch pedal and moved it as far left as possible.

My biggest complaint was interference between brake foot and clutch foot. The wider pedal lets me operate the clutch from the side of the pedal, farther to the left, out of the way of my braking foot. The chopped-off corner allows me a little dead space to put my clutch foot. I am very happy with the arrangement.

Pedal covers are made from an old floor mat.

FWIW I am 6'2" tall with long legs.

[Jaglex]

@ Bob t:
LHD early 1968,
so pretty much your situation apart from that I just fitted a Mangoletsi cable-throttle-kit.
That's why I'm thinking of "lowering" the other pedals as well.
And on top I'll have to bend them a little to the left as the new throttle pedal sits left of the gearbox tunnel hump so wants to be pushed fully down to the firewall.

Thank you very much for the pic and the 7mm; that's of great help.

Jaglex

[mark10337]

so pretty much your situation apart from that I just fitted a Mangoletsi cable-throttle-kit.

Could you post a picture of your pedals now you have fitted the Mangoletsi kit? I was thinking of this myself as I wanted to move the throttle back to where the brake and clutch pedals are.

[Jaglex]

Hopefully you can see, brake- and accelerator pedal have moved quite a lot down towards the firewall.
The accelerator pedal stops at the firewall at full throttle. The Mangoletsi - makes adjustments pretty easy. It just takes time.
The brake pedal came down by cutting 5mm of the actutating rod between the pedal and the master cylinder.
I had to bend the arms of the clutch and brake pedals to the left to have enough clearance to the acc-pedal. Substantial heat and a solid hammer were needed.
Next time I'll be wiser and make exakt measures how much "move" to the left is necessary. First I did to much and ended up with a brake pedal to far to the left - very uncomfortable. So out with the pedal box and again....
It's amazing how much quicker you are, when you are do a job the second time.

[mark10337]

That's really interesting and a great setup. It will save having the right leg bent the whole time.

Thanks for taking the time to make some photos and explain. Did you have to make any changes on the bulkhead to mount the pedal?

[Jaglex]

No changes at the bulkhead at all.
The only difference you can see from that side of the firewall is the 10mm spacer between the clutch master cylinder and it's bracket, that brings the clutch pedal down.
Nevertheless the clutch pedal is higher than the others, but I don't care and I can't do much about it without to much work involved, as I need the pedal travel to the firewall to operate the clutch properly.

[bitsobrits]

A simple bolt on pedal (after drilling one hole). Bolts to the stock 'drop' arm. Fabricated from mild steel with a stainless wear face, modeled after the RHD pedal. Factory RHD pedals don't fit LHD cars. Tried that first.

If you care about ease of 'heel and toe', you will likely want the throttle pedal to be about even with the depressed brake pedal.

Sorry the pictures are so dark. I have a drawing if you are interested.

[Vegard]

I've fitted a Mangoletsi kit on my dads LHD 1.5. My problem is that when I want to brake, I blip the throttle.
Do these pedals look correct to you guys? Could they be RHD pedals? Ideally, the pedals should have been an inch to the left. Maybe the Mangoletsi throttle pedal should have had the flange pointing to the right.

[Jaglex]

Vegard, your pedals are correct.
To have a nice situation between brake and throttle pedal I needed to bend the brake pedal to the left and as a consequence of that the clutch pedal as well.
Moving the throttle pedal to the right was easier, but no option for me, as I wanted it to pass the hump of the gearbox tunnel to go fully down to the fire wall. Leave it the way shown in your pic this should work out fine.
Bending the pedal arms to the left involves quite a lot of heat.
Bending them to much leaves you with an unpleasant position of your feet.
So don't be to generous with heat and force of the big hammer.
In the end it will pay out, so enjoy the result.
Alex

[Mark Gordon]

Before you go to the trouble of bending the brake pedal, I would suggest that you try turning the pad. Just loosen the nut on the back and it will turn to the left. In my case, that gave enough clearance so that I don't have trouble hitting the throttle when I want the brake.

[Jaglex]

I tried turning the brake pedal pad first.
This is fine, as long as you don't want to get your foot between the hump of the gearbox tunnel and the brake pedal, i.e. as long as you don't want to push the pedal down to the firewall (to maximize the legroom available).
If you want to get the pedal(s) that far down (to gain 10 - 15cm legroom), then you need to bend brake- and clutch-pedal.
It doesn't take to much time (first time done by an absolute amateur [that's me] including removing and reinstalling the pedal box etc approx 3h).

[Vegard]

Not sure if I've got different pedal pads than you, but turning them, won't help....



I guess its bending time.

[Jaglex]

Happy bending!
For the brake pedal you'll need quite a lot of heat.
Two proper blowtorches used from both sides worked fine.
To avoid changes in the structure of the metal I let it cool down slowly after bending it.