Pedals On The Lightweight

[peter_m7uk]

Hi,

 

I'm looking at mounting the pedals on my LW at the moment. I smacked seven shades out of the accel pedal to get it bent over to a good offset from the other two pedals, then made the hole in the battery tray larger on the left, so that I could move all of the pedals over to the left a bit. As you can see in the attached pic, they look well spaced and sit nicely in the footwell. BUT, if you look at the other pic where my feet are in there, there ain't a lot of room

 

To be honest, I've never actually driven a 7 style car, so I don't know what the driving position and pedal location is normally like, but seems pretty cramped in the LW! I am wearing big boots for the winter, but my normal trainers aren't much narrower. My right foot is hard against the body side and my left foot is hard against the tunnel side, so it seems like there isn't quite enough room to operate all three pedals. The only saving grace I can think of is that the footwell is tapered, so if the pedals were back a bit, the space is wider.

 

So any Lightweighters with finished cars or mounted pedals, how does yours look?? There are no cables attached in my car, so once the tension is on the cables, do the pedals swing back enough to sit in a wide enough part of the footwell? I notice in my daily car (a Polo), that the accel pedal sits further forward than brake and clutch, so you have to lift your foot up noticeably from the accel pedal to operate the brake. Are all cars like this?! It's one of those things that I never really thought about before, but it sounds right

 

Cheers,

Pete

[steve in stockport]

its all abit tight, even in a 2B which is bigger in the footwell dept, its just a case of getting them set up to suit yourself and some careful footwear selection, hiking/work boots really won't do

[Alan_builder]

that the accel pedal sits further forward than brake and clutch, so you have to lift your foot up noticeably from the accel pedal to operate the brake. Are all cars like this?! It's one of those things that I never really thought about before, but it sounds right

 

Cheers,

Pete

 

No 2 hoods are the same, you can have your pedals where you like, fit an outside extension if you wish. Yes the cockpit is narrow. Adjust the Accel pivot closer to you, job job.

 

Like Steve says heal and toe becomes easy, some times a B***** problem.

 

I my

[jobo]

I have a 3A and had to buy narrow trainers to drive it, as my normal ones catch both pedals at same time,

[zoomzoom]

Hi on my zero the footwell is very narrow aswell and I had to get a pair of omp racing boots to drive it as in normal shoes they just hit each other when pressing the pedals.

The acc pedal is set lower then the brake but how low is your choice, I remember on the lightweight I had I also ''adjusted'' the pedal box to give more room.

 

Oh by the way you know what they say about guys with large feet--------------------- BIG SHOES (source :- her indoors )

 

Marcus

[Tweedy]

Hi,I'm not familiar with the IVA Regs.but are there rules about the spacing between the pedals?

Cheers Mike

[mower man]

As in earlier posts I hope you don't seriously expect to drive your car with those boot's on even my mono car which is larger than most down in the foot box requires weltless trainers or dedicated driving shoes!!. Looking at the photo's there is still some room for adjustmenthow much time have you spent on the pedals ?. If this is the first fitting you have done v/well to get it as good as that ,alittle more bend and trimming the r/h side of the gas pedal should see agood set up also alittle tweak and trim on the clutch pedal ,yes to question about the pedals being a little closer to you wtll make some difference .Onlly pedal that should ever be up to the bulkhead is the gas pedal HTH mower man [persy verance is avery good but often ignored mate !!]

[miikae]

I had to buy myself a pair of Adidas Goodyears to be able to drive it safely even after i modded the pedal spacings.

[gdc]

hi peter

i had the same issues compounded by an injury that has my left foot sticking out at an angle towards the tunnel .

the answer i have found is a floor mounted peddle box.

it makes the engine bay more roomy and accesable to bits , also it brings the peddles closer , but most importantly it makes the spacing better , its not 100% perfect but its 90%better than it was .

if you want to try before you buy you are welcome to try mine .

graham

[fry61]

Cut a 1/4 off the gas pedal on each side, you don't need all that metal to open the GO flap, then rebend the pedal to the right. Not sure if you can alter brake pedal by moving washers or have to bend. See how much room t'other side of tunnel panel & gear-box -- on our 2B+ I have built in a "step" to rest clutch foot on.

[carl leonard]

Cut a 1/4 off the gas pedal on each side, you don't need all that metal to open the GO flap, then rebend the pedal to the right. Not sure if you can alter brake pedal by moving washers or have to bend. See how much room t'other side of tunnel panel & gear-box -- on our 2B+ I have built in a "step" to rest clutch foot on.

 

I agree, Floor mounted pedal box is the way to go (but of course costs more). The other positive, is that you can ditch the servo!

 

carl.

[peter_m7uk]

Hi All,

 

Thanks for the replies No, I'm not going to drive the car in my winter boots!! They're just for keeping warm in the unheated garage at this time of year I was thinking of something like climbing boots, as they hug your feet, but they're pretty stiff, so I suppose racing boots or socks (!) will have to do it.

 

Regarding adjustment, I think I can move the whole lot over to the left a little more and it's a good tip to make the accel pedal narrower and maybe washer/bend the brake and accel pedals across a bit. I'll see what can be done with a bit more fettling

 

On the pedal box, they're not cheap, are they?! And I'm reasonably tall, so I wonder if I'd have it to set it back and lose legroom. Also, the steering wheel would have to protrude more from the dash and wouldn't look quite as neat. That's my fallback option if I can't persuade the existing pedals to the right place!

 

Cheers,

Pete

 

PS For those whose pedals are a bit borderline, what did the SVA examiner say?! Does he come to the test with skinny shoes on??

[gdc]

Hi All,

 

hi pete re the pedle box it came through ebay at about £170 from opb inc cylinders and res

[Grim]

i tried driving with climbing shoes on, almost impossible, no feel and uncomfortable. There's not enough flexibility in the sole.

I got some very narrow nike trainers from a regular shoe shop for about £30 which are ideal.