Pedals

[Guest wildejon]

Hello all,

 

I'm building a Super Spec and we are just connecting up the pedals, but they just look so... archaic. What are they like to drive with, is it worth upgrading them at all?

 

Thanks

 

Jon

[Guest chris brown]

Lots but not all have cut and shut the pedals to suite it’s a case of fitting them, trying, removing them, cut and weld. Then refit and try again it took me hours to get them where I was comfortable (read could use) with.

BTW fitting a false floor about 1" thick also helps.

[Guest salty_monk]

Or you can go for a floor mounted set from either Robin Hood or MNR or the like...

 

Dan

[Jon Bradbury]

They are easy to cut and shut. I assume you have Sierra ones, with a dog's leg in them? Piece of cake. Once in, and providing you position them properly, you'll not have any problem with them. There are some pictures on my build site that may help.

 

Here's an attempt to get the position right with a set of unmodified Sierra pedals. You can see they are bent to the right leaving little or no space for the accelerator pedal.

 

And they're unevenly spaced too... yuk!

 

 

A bit of cutting and shutting gives you this:

 

 

It's important to note the technique for straightening them. What I did was cut a v shaped slot in the outer edge of the curve I wanted to straighten, then bent it straight and welded along the seam. I then welded a strengthening piece across the back of the pedal. To test, I installed it and put my full weight and then some on the brake pedal. This is the critical one, as you might want it to save your life someday.

 

The Sierra pedal box is a bit flimsy when adapted to the Robin Hood. It will flex, which will make SVA inspectors ask questions and look closer. You should always strengthen it, like this:

 

 

An SVA inspector ought to be impressed with this sort of setup (mine was), because it demonstrates you thought carefully about how the basic design can be improved upon. Adding this bar is cheap and easy, and makes the whole assembly very rigid. On my kit you are supposed to brace the pedal box mounting bracket with a piece of pipe that is supplied, but even if I had had the space in the engine bay to do this, the Sierra pedal box would still have flexed. If this is the case, an SVA examiner may well use his discretion to fail the car, because it isn't "strong enough to withstand the forces that it is likely to be subjected to" (the SVA manual says something like that; it's a catch-all in case the examiner thinks some critical component or assembly isn't up to the job). My approach was to over engineer the whole thing, just to be sure, because I did not want to have to dismantle it if it failed. I did, in fact, fail, but on minor points that were easily rectified. The examiner told me it was one of the best put together kits he'd seen, and certainly the best Robin Hood (I think he meant structurally, as my interior is a bit naff).

 

There's no need to go out spending wads on a new pedal box. Adapt what you have; it's easy and you'll gain great satisfaction from doing it. And yes, you can heel & toe with my setup (actually it is quite easy!).

[will]

The super spec pedals look and feel like RH homemade jobbies. Once you get the spacing right (so that you can actually turn the wheel they are ok. I got use to them quite quickly.

[Guest rhetorical-oracle]

Hi Jon,

 

I assume you have Sierra ones

 

Jon if it's the SuperSpec kit then if it's like mine then it came with a set of pedals made by RH. They're just a cut out of steel plate or rod with pedal pads welded on. They have a tube welded at the pivot point and they slide onto a rod in a pedal box housing in the engine bay. (Haven't got any photos handy unfortunately). At the end of the day they're just levers that you press with your feet, so long as they operate the accelerator cable, clutch cable and brake master cylinder, does it really matter what they look like???

 

I is worth putting the pedals in on the pivot rod and then sitting in the car and getting someone to move the pedals along the rod to find the best driving position. You can then make up some spacers these will then slide onto the rod between the pedals to give you the most comfortable pedal spacing. They're not bad to drive with although you'll need to be wearing trainers or the like rather than steel toecaps as there's not much room between them

 

Phill.

[Guest wildejon]

Hi Jon,

 

 

 

Jon if it's the SuperSpec kit then if it's like mine then it came with a set of pedals made by RH. They're just a cut out of steel plate or rod with pedal pads welded on. They have a tube welded at the pivot point and they slide onto a rod in a pedal box housing in the engine bay. (Haven't got any photos handy unfortunately). At the end of the day they're just levers that you press with your feet, so long as they operate the accelerator cable, clutch cable and brake master cylinder, does it really matter what they look like???

 

I is worth putting the pedals in on the pivot rod and then sitting in the car and getting someone to move the pedals along the rod to find the best driving position. You can then make up some spacers these will then slide onto the rod between the pedals to give you the most comfortable pedal spacing. They're not bad to drive with although you'll need to be wearing trainers or the like rather than steel toecaps as there's not much room between them

 

Phill.

 

Crikey, it was a long time ago I started thinking about this!

This car is taking ages!...

 

Well, now we have time to get these done so I'm back on it.

 

Firstly, no I'm not bothered what they look like, functionality is far more important, although they do look pretty bad

 

I do have the superspec kit and it just doesn't fit! Whatever I do, the brake pedal prevents the steering wheel from turning freely as it hits the knuckle joint, anyone else found this? Not sure what to do about it apart from having a new pedal made up with a larger bend in the middle (or modifying this one). Is this common?!

 

Thanks for the replies, a few months ago!

[Guest gavinc]

this is the top view of the superspec pedal box

 

 

you can move the pedals side to side abit by adjusting the length of the spacers

 

fitted omp ally pedal covers to allow the "pad" of the pedal to be put in a suitable place....

 

[Al Milton]

Crikey, it was a long time ago I started thinking about this!

This car is taking ages!...

 

Well, now we have time to get these done so I'm back on it.

 

Firstly, no I'm not bothered what they look like, functionality is far more important, although they do look pretty bad

 

I do have the superspec kit and it just doesn't fit! Whatever I do, the brake pedal prevents the steering wheel from turning freely as it hits the knuckle joint, anyone else found this? Not sure what to do about it apart from having a new pedal made up with a larger bend in the middle (or modifying this one). Is this common?!

 

Thanks for the replies, a few months ago!

 

Hi Jon,

 

I have had the same problem on my SS pedals. The brake pedal was fouling the steering column/shaft union (knuckle joint). I had the pedal re-modified to suit which took a little trial and error. I don't have any pics at present, but if you can hang on a couple of days i'll take a couple and send you measurements, hopefully this may help you out. As yet, I have not fully fitted the pedals to the car, but I have tested for clearance and everything seems ok.

 

Like you, mine is taking ages and ages, lost some enthusiasm due to work for the past couple of years, but I am getting the itch back.

 

Al

[Guest allenr03]

I didn't have any problems with the brake pedal, used the large steel washers to space them correctly, no clearance issues at all.

[Guest wildejon]

Well, I guess its a case of manufacturing tolerances... I'm not sure they are built to any tolerence so that may explain it

Al, if you do have any measurements/photos that would be fab.

 

The main issue with using the spacers is that the brake pedal will be too far away from the connecting rod into the servo. Causing it to be pulled at an angle, something I really didn't want to do....

 

Rich, you built you car in 6 months?! Well done!!

[agent_zed]

fitted omp ally pedal covers to allow the "pad" of the pedal to be put in a suitable place....

 

 

Hi i was under the impression that the brake pedal must have rubber parts to prevent slipping to pass MOT, or is it ok if it has grips cut into the alu? Please correct me if iam wrong...

[Guest chris brown]

Hi i was under the impression that the brake pedal must have rubber parts to prevent slipping to pass MOT, or is it ok if it has grips cut into the alu? Please correct me if iam wrong...

Brake pedal must have a non slip surface this can be in any material so ally covers are fine. If you want to do it very cheaply just run a few weld lines across the surface. This is not just a SVA requirement but MoT as well

[Al Milton]

Jon,

 

If you bear with me i'll try and get them done either this afternoon or over the weekend. The pedal isn't fitted to car, so that should make it easier!!

 

I agree about the manufacturing tolerances. It appeared with mine that the actual curved part of the pedal was welded on the wrong way round and it would have been wildly off centre to the servo linkage, if I could have gained the clearance from the steering column/shaft union.

 

Cheers

Al

[Al Milton]

Jon,

 

Photo with measurements too large to attatch. I will send you a PM. Hope this helps.

 

Cheers

Al