Throttle Rod To Cable Conversion

[CPNE]

Originally posted by crazy longhorn
Dubie, I have cut those cables down.....but its a bunch of work! If you look at the 73 up trucks ,with a 4brl sb, i think you will find a very short cable that will work for you. Good luck,crazyL

Or you could just get the 350 small block 4wd version used in 71/72 and probably later. I believe GM still has them but I don't have part #. Maybe Wes does.

[Bowtie67]

Originally posted by Stepsides 4Ever
Bowtie67, the cable casing out of a '71 with v8 measures 11" from firewall to bracket. The free travel length is about 3" if you use the stock bracket. There is an excellent thread on making your own custom length cable here.
.

Thanks, My current cable casing from the I6 measures 26inches and I need something around 16inches because of the TPI setup,
If anyone out there has any other ideas that might work or any cars with the throttle cable to measure would be appreciated, I will also consider the shortening it as well.

[crazy longhorn]

Originally posted by CPNE


Or you could just get the 350 small block 4wd version used in 71/72 and probably later. I believe GM still has them but I don't have part #. Maybe Wes does.

I bet that will work also......but then you wouldnt have "oddball parts" on your truck Long time no see CPNE Hey, Its good to be back crazyL

[Stepsides 4Ever]

Ok, I ended up moving the mid-'70s pedal assembly down 2" and over 1 3/8"(measuring at the center-to-center distance between the lowermost holes of the plastic pivot plates). When I did that I now had the new pedal in exactly the same position as the stock floor mounted pedal, and the upper cable arm was aligned with the hole above the plug connector hole. The only problem with this position was that one of the pivot plate holes was over a curved area of the firewall, so I made up a 1/4" adapter plate with the 2 hole patterns in the appropriate positions and drilled and tapped it for 1/4-20 thread. I ground off the factory weld nuts and used the original bolts to bolt the plate to the firewall. I had to grind the lower bolt flush with the plate for clearance, and round the edges so the firewall insulating pad will go over it without stressing it. I filed the hole square for the cable and connected it up to check the travel...I have 2 1/2", which should be enough.

[Stepsides 4Ever]

And the finished result...

[Stepsides 4Ever]

With the stock pedal overlaid...

[72c5]

I think you are going a bit nuts on this simple mod......I like the cable type pedal too......but one of the nice things about the cable is that alignment is not an issue.......just put it where it looks/works best and drill.............

this is a 5-minute mod!

boom-boom be done!

[CPNE]

Originally posted by crazy longhorn
I bet that will work also......but then you wouldnt have "oddball parts" on your truck Long time no see CPNE Hey, Its good to be back crazyL

I only offered that as a remedy as Tim's small block is in the I6 (or if you prefer the 4x4 small block) position. Once again proving my point that you need to maintain your own parts interchange manual once you deviate from factory specs. That's always been my point, not the fact that it's wrong, incorrect, stupid, or whatever. It's a plain fact that it leads to confusion, especially if you acquire a truck and aren't aware of the PO's "backyard" engineering. But then again, if you like puzzles...me I'd rather be driving

Man I missed this argument Crazyl, glad you're back!

[Stepsides 4Ever]

I think you are going a bit nuts on this simple mod......I like the cable type pedal too......but one of the nice things about the cable is that alignment is not an issue.......just put it where it looks/works best and drill.............

Of course, you're right. It comes from watching too much of Boyd Coddington on "American Hot Rod". Same way that the factory can just screw on a patch over the clutch rod hole if you have an automatic...a simple 2-minute job...boom-boom you're done...but I like mine better with it welded up and filled.

What I like about doing it this way is that I don't end up with any more holes in the firewall. Also, with the pedal closer to the tranny hump, you can rest your foot against the hump on long trips...and it just plain looks right, to me, anyway, like it should be that way.

But yeah, I agree with you...it doesn't have to be a long and drawn out, convoluted engineering exercise...it can be as simple (or as complex) as you want to make it.

[Bowtie67]

I would cut the remaining crap off the pedal assemble so that it is a little cleaner. I'll post what I did on mine as well. You can see where it came out on the firewall from the previous post further up.

And to note I found a throttle cable that worked great, exact length and all, from a not sure what year S10 with a 2.0liter engine.

[crazy longhorn]

Originally posted by CPNE


I only offered that as a remedy as Tim's small block is in the I6 (or if you prefer the 4x4 small block) position. Once again proving my point that you need to maintain your own parts interchange manual once you deviate from factory specs. That's always been my point, not the fact that it's wrong, incorrect, stupid, or whatever. It's a plain fact that it leads to confusion, especially if you acquire a truck and aren't aware of the PO's "backyard" engineering. But then again, if you like puzzles...me I'd rather be driving

Man I missed this argument Crazyl, glad you're back!

No arguement.....we agree that we do things differently! Its not a matter of right/wrong....just different You make a very sharp point old man, I do like puzzles......they arent for all. I have always said that you need to put the "fight" where you want it For me , it is a lot of fun to push the envelope harder than the factory engineers were allowed to.....my imagination is probably a couple miles wide(crazy ideas!) Its fun to "play the differences" , many thanks for the welcome back.......crazyL

[CPNE]

CrazyL, if I had 1/2 your talent I'd think differently too. But that "old man" reference...them's fighting words!

[crazy longhorn]

Originally posted by CPNE
CrazyL, if I had 1/2 your talent I'd think differently too. But that "old man" reference...them's fighting words!

CPNE, I am just an old "backyard" mechanic/ hobby fabricator.....its just my crazy imagination that gets me into oddball combos My dad always said that I "marched to the beat of a different drummer".......i thought that was good, but Im not sure that dad did IMHO, it takes a very talanted individual to do proper restos on these old trucks We just do things differently......& its fun to "blow the smoke" back & forth! 67-72's FOREVER, any shape/form, custom or resto make a sweet truck.....crazyL

[72c5]

Hey Stepsides 4 ever- You had posted some great pics on you pedal conversion, but they got lost a while back.......do you still have those pics?

[Stepsides 4Ever]

Here they are...with thanks to Orange70Chevy for the pic of the later model firewall.

These are the pix of the stock '70 setup...

[Stepsides 4Ever]

...the first pic is a comparison between the '71-'72 cable throttle arm (on the right) and a later model arm, showing the difference in pedal offset.

The next one is a pic of the "adapter" plate that screws into the original holes (after removing the threaded nuts on the firewall) and provides a place to screw the new pedal bracket.

The last two pix are of the final result, and with the original accelerator pedal overlaid on the new pedal to show how the stock position relates to the new pedal.

[72c5]

So Step- You used the later style pedal.......nice.........looks like the square hole is cut about 1" above the small round hole that is there already.......Great Pics! Thx for reposting the pics.........

[Stepsides 4Ever]

The 1 1/8" round hole is a hole for the grommet that the tail light wiring goes through.
There is a pointed rubber/plastic fastener that secures the firewall insulating pad immediately above that (where the end of the tape measure is). I popped that fastener out and filed the hole square for the throttle cable.

Be aware that the later model cable requires a rectangular hole while the '71-'72 cable hole is square.

[72MARIO]

You guys need to check out

"Lokar"

They make a cut to fit throttle cable. I got one for my 72 because I have a 8 in the 6 Cyl position and I have a T.D performance throttle/T.V cable bracket that sits a little closer to the firewall.. Works perfect. It required a stainless washer to cover the outside edges of the old square hole in the firewal lbut it still looks trick.

[dubie]

oh man is this ever an old thread brought back from the dead I used a throttle cable from a 71 , 3/4 GMC and it worked great . My 350 is in the I6 spot and this worked like a factory cable

[72MARIO]

Didnt notice it was raised from the dead. Opps

[purple gas]

I tryed doing the swap and ended up going back to original type rod set up till I get the bugs worked out... Good luck to you. For the square hole, I drilled a hole and then "squared " off the corners with a jig saw & metal blade & just nibbled away material till I got it right. That's the only tip I have.

[D.PASSMORE]

TTT - Good info.

[Deer_hunter_088]

Well im glad someone already did this swap on mine, i was actually thinking it came with a cable!!