57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'

[mongocanfly]

I know youd have to "adj" the cable bracket to keep it inline, but I was thinking if this piece were a little longer it would increase your pedal ratio without affecting pedal travel

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

I know youd have to "adj" the cable bracket to keep it inline, but I was thinking if this piece were a little longer it would increase your pedal ratio without affecting pedal travel

I agree it would increase the travel. However, I did read a suggestion on a Corvette forum I may try first. You can disassemble the pedal and reposition the splines to change the angle of the pedal. The net result of that is the top edge of the pedal is a bit further back which increases the distance to the carpet. Right now, the carpet is the limiting factor. The built in stop isn't in play because the angle of the arm relative to the pedal isn't quite right.

I need to sit down on a milk carton and see how the pedal feels, though. Don't want to get into a situation where your right foot is at an awkward angle when driving. Will keep you posted.

[Vic1947]

Latest news...

I removed the pedal assembly and took out the two screws holding the spline'd pillow block. Rotated the splines slightly and reinserted the shaft into the block then reinstalled the screws. As you can see from the before and after photos, the angle between the arm and the pedal increased from around 88 to 97 degrees. With the pedal back in place, this tipped the upper edge back away from the carpet relative to where it sat originally. The pedal angle doesn't seem awkward when sitting in the driving position.

The end result of this geometry experiment is that I now have full throttle opening with no compromise at idle. I will say this though - the pedal action seems a bit lazy. I have to push thru more of an arc to get WOT than I expected. Time will tell if it turns out to be a drive-ability issue.

[Vic1947]

After reviewing the throttle situation, I determined a possible cause for the lazy pedal action was the hole position in the throttle arm I was using. If I moved the cable stop to the second hole, it would give me a quicker throttle as well as reducing the amount of travel needed for WOT. So I relocated the cable stop this morning to the second hole in the throttle arm and tested the throttle action. I could tell it was quicker with shorter travel as well. However, it still felt somewhat lazy. As you can see in the photos below, the Teflon lined, braided steel hose from Lokar had collapsed with only slight tension applied. It's not really meant for this purpose in the first place, so I shouldn't be surprised. As the result, the Lokar braided steel throttle cable has a new home in the trash bin.

The FITech setup came with an OEM throttle cable, but the ends were not at all what I needed. It was, however, the right length and diameter, so I set about cannibalizing the Lokar ends and transferring them to the sturdier OEM cable. It's a plastic covered, spring wound assembly with a PTFE liner meant for this application. All back together and tested, it operates smoothly and quickly. After several days of dinking around with it, I think I finally have a long term solution.