brake pedal adjustment

[hound dog]

I've got a slight problem with the brake pedal on my 427SC. When I brake hard the brake pedal goes down past the accelerator pedal. Now this isn't a problem if your foot misses the accelerator, but if it doesn't you're trying to accelerate and brake at the same time (wide foot). Looks kind of stupid coming to a stop at 6,000 rpm! I'm going to try to make some male/female extensions for the master cylinder push rods this winter and raise the brake pedal an inch or two. Does anyone else have any other, better solutions? Maybe a been there, done that story?
thanks,
h dog

[rdorman]

I do not recommend trying to extend the master cylinder pushrod. If you have adjusted the pushrod out as far as you can and it is still not where you would like it, get longer pushrods. My master cylinders are Girling and I did not have any readily available longer push rods for Girling. I took some from (AP I think) and reshaped them to EXACTLY match the end of the Girlings and cut them to length. The shape of the push rod end is very important.

I moved mine not for the same reason but because I was looking for a comfortable seating position for me. If the peddles felt good, then I was on top of the steering wheel. If the wheel felt good, then I was reaching for the peddles. General recomendation is that the brake peddle be at least an inch to the left and be slighty higher than the gas peddle when applied. Of course your driving style, foot size and type of shoe all come into play.

I like my gas peddle close (I have never been able to heal-toe in the classic fashion, I roll the foot over to blip the throttle) to the brake peddle and slightly below. With the travel of the clutch peddle and the seating position I keep the clutch peddle fairly high. Just what works for me. I bet I have 12" from the back of the peddles to the firewall! I am 5'10".

The peddle should not over center when you push on it. That is it should not go past perpendicular to the top of the footbox (level) when depressed. While you are down there, make sure that the balance bar is centerd in the balance tube under normal pressure that it does not bind under light or heavy braking.

Rick

[rdorman]

I do not recommend trying to extend the master cylinder pushrod. If you have adjusted the pushrod out as far as you can and it is still not where you would like it, get longer pushrods. My master cylinders are Girling and I did not have any readily available longer push rods for Girling. I took some from (AP I think) and reshaped them to EXACTLY match the end of the Girlings and cut them to length. The shape of the push rod end is very important.

I moved mine not for the same reason but because I was looking for a comfortable seating position for me. If the peddles felt good, then I was on top of the steering wheel. If the wheel felt good, then I was reaching for the peddles. General recomendation is that the brake peddle be at least an inch to the left and be slighty higher than the gas peddle when applied. Of course your driving style, foot size and type of shoe all come into play.

I like my gas peddle close (I have never been able to heal-toe in the classic fashion, I roll the foot over to blip the throttle) to the brake peddle and slightly below. With the travel of the clutch peddle and the seating position I keep the clutch peddle fairly high. Just what works for me. I bet I have 12" from the back of the peddles to the firewall! I am 5'10".

The peddle should not over center when you push on it. That is it should not go past perpendicular to the top of the footbox (level) when depressed. While you are down there, make sure that the balance bar is centerd in the balance tube under normal pressure that it does not bind under light or heavy braking.

Rick

[hound dog]

Rick,
Right now my brake pedal is just slightly above the accelerator. When I brake hard, such as during the track day at CMP recently, I could actually catch my foot under the accelerator pedal. The brake pedal is currently hanging straight down and is way past center when braking to the max. That's why I was thinking about extending the pushrods into the balance bar. I'd like the brake to be about level with the accelerator when heavy braking is applied.
h dog

[hound dog]

Rick,
Right now my brake pedal is just slightly above the accelerator. When I brake hard, such as during the track day at CMP recently, I could actually catch my foot under the accelerator pedal. The brake pedal is currently hanging straight down and is way past center when braking to the max. That's why I was thinking about extending the pushrods into the balance bar. I'd like the brake to be about level with the accelerator when heavy braking is applied.
h dog

[rdorman]

Two thoughts. One is the brake pedal is over centering, so a longer rod is in order. The other is of course you could lower the gas pedal. To me, the brake peddle should not travel past center so I concider that to be the minumum amount the push rod should be extended. If you want it longer than that, I consider that more of a preference in so far as driving position. Then adjust the gas pedal and clutch pedals to where you would like them.

So do get longer rods, but I think extending them is a bad idea (been down that road!).

Once the pedal overcenters (passes perpendicular) in relationship to the force being applied to it then the leverage is reduced.

I don't know if I made it clear or not but I like the gas pedal slightly below the brake when I am applying the brake. At rest the gas peddle is quite a bit below the brake pedal.

Rick

[rdorman]

Two thoughts. One is the brake pedal is over centering, so a longer rod is in order. The other is of course you could lower the gas pedal. To me, the brake peddle should not travel past center so I concider that to be the minumum amount the push rod should be extended. If you want it longer than that, I consider that more of a preference in so far as driving position. Then adjust the gas pedal and clutch pedals to where you would like them.

So do get longer rods, but I think extending them is a bad idea (been down that road!).

Once the pedal overcenters (passes perpendicular) in relationship to the force being applied to it then the leverage is reduced.

I don't know if I made it clear or not but I like the gas pedal slightly below the brake when I am applying the brake. At rest the gas peddle is quite a bit below the brake pedal.

Rick

[spd4me]

I had the same problem with the petals hanging to low. I took the pushrod out of one of the master cylinders and took it to a machine shop that uses a laser to make an exact duplicate. They made me three that were an inch longer. My first cobra they did it for free, my second FIA cobra they charged about $20. Be carful not to adjust petals out to far because you want the push rods to travel straight in and out of the cylinder.

[spd4me]

I had the same problem with the petals hanging to low. I took the pushrod out of one of the master cylinders and took it to a machine shop that uses a laser to make an exact duplicate. They made me three that were an inch longer. My first cobra they did it for free, my second FIA cobra they charged about $20. Be carful not to adjust petals out to far because you want the push rods to travel straight in and out of the cylinder.