Vaux2.0L
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| posted on 13/11/02 at 01:05 PM |
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Pedal Box
Has anyone made their own pedal box? I've been told it's really difficult but it doesn't look that complicated, as long as the leverage is right
and the travel in the piston + being strong enough to resist some harsh application.
Any help would be appreciated
Cheers
IAN
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AdamB
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| posted on 13/11/02 at 01:24 PM |
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Why?
Why do you want to build you own pedal box? What's that saying, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Building your own box may not be rocket science,
but its a hell of a lot easier to fit one from a donor car, you'll also get the benfits of servo assitance then. You'd need the pedals off a donor
box as making your own WOULD be difficult, I think theres something in the SVA about pedals, don't quote me on that though.
Just make sure you plumb the tandam cylinder as a front/back split and not diagonal, then you can adjust the brake balance.
Adam 
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Vaux2.0L
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| posted on 13/11/02 at 01:32 PM |
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The reason we were thinking about it was the spacing, wanted to make it easy to heel-toe and ive got big feet so the pedals need to be fairly high but
if its that much work it's not worth it, we'll find a way!
Cheers
IAN
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Spyderman
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 posted on 13/11/02 at 01:41 PM |
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Ian,
Will you be using the pedals from a donor?
If so then I see no major problems in building your own pedal box. I know a lot of modern production cars don't have a pedal box as such.
If you were planning on building one from scratch then I would sugges getting them from a donor, or at least the pedals.
Experimenting to find the right leverage and travel to suit the master cylinder can be a right pain. Much easier to borrow from a donor that is
already matched.
If you want duel master cylinders then check with supplier as to what they are matched for.
Either way you will need to know the travel of master before building fulcrum.
As Adam says "it ain't rocket science", but be sure you don't damage master cylinder by trying to push too far. Or not enough come to that!
Even though you are building a lighter vehicle than the donor you will still need to push the same amount of fluid to operate the brakes.
Just my thoughts.
Terry
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Alan B
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| posted on 13/11/02 at 02:26 PM |
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I ended up making my own.
http://www.desicodesign.com/meerkat/images/Pedals_0105.jpg
As they say fairly easy really.....although not always necessary...I just chose to
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Vaux2.0L
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| posted on 13/11/02 at 02:56 PM |
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Wow, they look great, i'm inspired! They do look like a lot of work though. Did you use bearings where the pedals pivot on the bar?
IAN
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Alan B
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| posted on 13/11/02 at 03:06 PM |
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Yes, just Oilite bushings...very cheap...should last forvever...
more pics at..
http://www.desicodesign.com/meerkat/Manufactured%20parts.htm
About halfway down the page.
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Jasper
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| posted on 13/11/02 at 07:46 PM |
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Trouble with the donor ones is that they can be too big, heavy, spaced apart.
I adapted a set of light weight ones from an old micra, chopped the pedals down and changed the angles, but used the top pivot. Then used a sierra
master cylinder with the pushrod adapted to fit.
It wasn't hard and I've got a set of pedals that fit me and the car, and apated to suit my bike engine cables too, I've also made the box bolt in,
not welded in, so I can easily modify things as necessary.
No where near as neat as Alan's though!!
BTW, you don't need the servo unit, too big and ugly in the engine bay IMO.
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Alan B
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| posted on 13/11/02 at 08:31 PM |
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Jasper, Cheers mate
After you have built a frame and modified a bunch of stuff then making/modifying some pedals seems like an easy job by comparison.
A lot is down to the old time/money equation really, but often you have no choice and what you really need/want just can't be bought
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 14/11/02 at 09:04 AM |
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The reason I made my own is that I wanted a totally fire-tight barrier between the engine compartment and the passenger compartment.
I have seen many pedal arrangements that leave a great big hole in the top of the footwell - apart from the fire risk, there must be a lot of engine
fumes coming through!
I started with a complete Escort pedal box, took all the critical measurements from it, then made a new box out of MDF to try out the pedal positions.
Once I was happy with height, etc. I transferred the dimensions onto a fabricated steel box with a lid and mounted all the Escort pedals, pivots,
etc. onto it.
rgds,
David
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JohnFol
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| posted on 15/11/02 at 08:31 AM |
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Alan, are you really going to use CD's for the rear lights?
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Alan B
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| posted on 15/11/02 at 01:10 PM |
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Why?
Don't you think I'll get away with iit?
Very cheap though......
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Spyderman
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| posted on 15/11/02 at 01:30 PM |
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Alan,
You should at least turn them around so that the shiny side is out.
At least that way they will act as reflectors.
Terry
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Alan B
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| posted on 15/11/02 at 01:38 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Bull
Alan,
You should at least turn them around so that the shiny side is out.
At least that way they will act as reflectors.
Terry
Ah but Terry there is method in my madness (and there is plenty of madness).....
I particularly chose red ones (Juno) for brake/tail....and orange (AOL gold) for indicators.....
See...nowhere near as daft as I look....
(Don't answer that )
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