After much noodling and fiddling, I arrived at gas pedal assembly. Simple in concept, but needing to satisfy many criteria, I think I have all the bases covered, and some flexibility built in if the ergonomics need some tweaking after I drive the car for a while.
Using the stock throttle cable meant I had to pick up about 3" of slack on the cockpit side of the cable due to the way it was mounted in the Mustang donor.
Also, I needed a sufficient cable pull to open my stock throttle body completely ,
but also needed to account for more pull that will be required when I go to a larger engine and throttle body in Phase II of my build.
And then, the pedal itself had to end up in the right place above the floor boards,
and the right distance from the transmission tunnel to fit my wide foot,
and be narrow in overall assembly width as I have about 15/16" to work with to match up with the cable,
and not exert much side pressure on the plastic mount of the cable itself as I had to trim off its reinforcing fins to end up with a workable hole size. Other than that, it was pretty simple and a piece of cake.
Here's what I ended up with:
Attachment:
Pedal-Assembly-Front-View.jpg
Attachment:
Gas-Pedal-Assembly-Exploded-View.jpg
The hardest little task was emulating the stock Mustang cable attachment using materials on hand, but provide for accurate assemble with welding in my non-CNC, 1959 Garage Tech shop. It's a complex little piece, but offers me a way to satisfy several criteria by doing the tack welding of it in place when mounted. When done correctly, the cable will pull out straight from the plastic mount, and the cable will be tangent to the pedal assembly as the pedal is depressed throughout its swing.
Attachment:
Throttle Cable Attach Tab.jpg
When building the piece, I found a "field upgrade" that made it unneccessary to trim the back portion of the piece to 5/8". I really hate handling small pieces on the bandsaw.
So, here are the major pieces fabricated, excepting the foot shield, which I'll finish after jury duty. I have to report tomorrow, but have no idea if I'll have to serve on a trial jury yet.
Attachment:
Gas-Pedal-Major Parts.jpg
The pedal pad is removable. That's so I can change its height, shape, slope, etc., in the car without any major re-do of the pedal assembly. I made it out of 20 gauge steel, but felt it was too flimsy. So, I made another, but dug out my bead roller and put a nice deel bead through the middle this time. Man, did that make a difference. I was so supprised at how solid it became. I thing I could stand on it (literally) and it wouldn't give. Yea!
Attachment:
Bead-Roller.jpg
Attachment:
Rolling Pedal Pad Bead.jpg
The attachment tab took careful work to fit the cable end. I had to drill it undersize and then carefully hand ream it's opening to fit, but not pull through, the cable end. When I could just get it through and mounted using hand soap as lubricant, I quit. It works pretty darn well. I don't believe it will pull through either, but I'm going to mount an adjustable stop for the pedal itself, so I don't over-stretch things in an enthusiastic moment of spirited driving.
Attachment:
Throttle Attach Done and Tested.jpg
I'll pick up the rest of the work after jury duty is over.
Cheers,