Brake Pedal Adjust? Options

[richardL]

I was trying to fit the new pedal board I have and it won't fit as it keeps binding on the brake pedal. When I played with the pedal I can move it off of the rest towards the master cylinder about 3/4" using one finger. I believe the free play should be closer to 1mm?

Anyhow it seems to me that I should be adjusting the rubber stop forwards to reduce the play - and this would move the rest position of the pedal forwards and reduce the free play and hence also the pedal board to fit in. Is that correct? or am I missing something?

OK...

How do I do that adjustment? I can't see any way of moving the rubber stop towards the front of the car as it is attached to the bearing tube. Essentially I am trying to stop the spring pushing the pedal up too far, but I can't see how to make that adjustment. I think I have read that the pedal height is adjustable?

Hope this is clear,

Thanks,
Richard

[davep]

Normally the brake pedal adjustment is done with the push rod itself. You unlock the nuts on the back side, and screw the rod in or out to get the required clearance, then lock it up again.

With 17mm clearance instead of 1mm, clearly something is amiss. I cannot imagine what might be wrong. The master cylinder is not bolted to the pedal cluster? The piston in the MC is not coming back to rest position (an internal spring problem)? The brake pushrod was disassembled and not assembled in the original setting?

[richardL]

The brakes worked very well when I last drove it. Is it not equally possible that the MC is fine and the pedal is just continuing to rotate towards the driver even though the cylinder is in the fully 'relaxed' position. You could adjust the pushrod to reduce the free play, but the pedal would still be sitting too high when released - which seems to be my problem because I can't get the pedal board located as the brake pedal is too high and doesn't allow the pedal board to lay flat between the two screw holes.

Thats what started me off.

I have searched and found several remarks saying you can adjust pedal height, but I can't figure out how.

R

[Brad Roberts]

The brake pedal is not adjustable (just the free play)


B

[richardL]

Well that simplifies things.

So according to the manuals there should be 5 - 7mm free play at the pedal - does my 'finger test' count as free play or is it something more subtle?

What about fitting the pedal board (both a wooden one and the aluminum one) - it seems that I am depressing the brake pedal lever in order to get them attached. Any ideas?

Richard

[davep]

Yes, the finger test is good. Once you start to feel heavy resistance then you would be trying to apply the brakes. I agree that the pedals are not meant to be height adjusted. The springs push them back to their stops, that is their normal position. Then you adjust the linkages to set the clearances. You can set the clearance without the board in place, with the exception of the clutch stop.

It has been a while, but I recall having to manipulate the pedals to get the board into place. Take off the rubbers first, that makes a big difference.

[richardL]

I can get the board on, and I can just screw down the wooden one, but it is bending over the brake pedal lever - at that point the free play is just right, because the board is restricting the pedal from rising upto touch the proper stop. If I manually lift the brake up and 'bend' the board, then I get to the correct end stop. I can't do that with the aluminum board and hence I can't get it into a position where I can attach both mounting screws.

It also catches on the left side of the gas pedal, so I suspect I am doing something wrong as I expected it to lay flat once I had fiddled it over the pedals correctly.

I just can't see the right way to do it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Richard

[Engman]

The pedal boards can be a little tough to get into position. You should not have the stop for the clutch locked down prior to putting in the board. I have found that it is easier if you install the stop for the clutch after the board is in. You do have to depress the pedals to get the board into position. Take your time it will fit. I have sold many of these and not had any issue.
Often it is easier to remove the rubber on the pedal to install. The cutouts on my pedal board design were made about .12" larger to help with this issue. All the boards used in the 914 were the same design for all years. Difference exist in the materials used - pressboard vs. wood.

If you still have trouble post a pic of where you have the problem.

Mark

[Brad Roberts]

yeah.. show us a pic.. I know you have a camera... Get the clutch pedal into the board THEN put the clutch stop in place. There is enough room for this.


B

[richardL]

OK, try these.

The board is on and I attach the right hand side mounting screw. The middle of the board is pressing against the bearing tube and the brake pedal and the left hand side is way up in the air.

[richardL]

Now try the other way - attach the left hand mount screw. The board is catching in the middle on the bearing tube and the brake pedal. The right hand mount hole is way up in the air away from the hole on the cover plate. If I try to force the right hand mount in I am bending the board and the brake pedale is depressed over half an inch by the board, and I still can't get it to attach!

[richardL]

The clutch pedal fits fine, but notice that the board is binding the bottom of the gas pedal, even when it is 'almost' in the correct position. I know the board is EXACTLY correct, its almost as if my pedal box is too far towards the back of the car (and I did check to see if it had been relocated).

R

[Engman]

How far off is the other mount hole?

M

[richardL]

Whichever side I attach, the board on the other side is about half to 3/4 inch up in the air over the mount hole - its pivoting on the brake pedal and bearing tube (the big bit at the end that the pedal stop is mounted on). Like I said if I 'bend' the board (and that why I said the wooden one was more accomodating since its easier to bend), I can almost get it to touch but by then the brake pedal is depressed around half an inch. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

Richard

[Engman]

Remove the screw and mount on the lh side. Board looks to be too far to the right and and too close to the pedal (ie it should fit further behind the pedal) Try to get the position good. Then lets see where the mount screw holes are located. I am wondering if the hole locations are off or if there was somrething else that was moved in the car.


M

[richardL]

Mark,

If you look at the first picture I had only the rh screw attached and I couldn't get the lh side anywhere near the mounting hole you can see - I tried to force it in fact and it popped the cover plate off even though it is screwed in! I do wonder if there is something odd about the car. The board would mount perfectly if the pedal cluster wasn't getting in the way!! Thats why I actually checked under the car and at the firewall to see if it appeared to have been moved backwards perhaps. It looks absolutely stock though.

I think the interference with the gas pedal is because the pedal cluster is pushing the board to far back and into that pedal. The board would fit perfectly if I cut away the lower section by the bottom of the brake over to the gas pedal (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif) Maybe I'll try to cut the wooden board and try that.

Richard

[richardL]

A few minutes with the saw and I removed that lower section of the board and it now fits straight in. Notice that the bearing tube end is actually in the plain of the board - thats what was interfering and causing all the problems. So is the board mounting too far forward, or is the pedal box to far back?

R

[Jeroen]

Richard,

It's a little hard to tell by your pics, but it looks like the brake pedal stop is cocked towards the back of the car
The stop rubber should be close to 90 deg with the floorboard

[Jeroen]

maybe the bolt for the brake stop is missing or broken of (it's behind the clutch pedal pivot)

[richardL]

The nut is in place and the geometry looks like yours. However, the whole pedal cluster is tilted back and thats why the stop looks angled back. The front of the cluster - where the MC fits is quite raised up - I can get my fingers underneath the cluster at the front quite easily. It all looks normal but maybe the whol thing is bent somehow. After I put the wooden board on, I can lay a ruler across the outside face and that stop mount still sticks out a good 1/4" above the face (and thats the outside face, so it was really pushing against the inside face!). If the cluster was mounted flat (like in your photo), it would all fit.

R