[jshcobra]

For the past several weeks, I've been assembling components to replace the ailing aod in my 68 with a t5 manual. Being a cheapskate at heart, I simply couldn't bring myself to fork over $150 or more for a clutch pedal so I took a stab at my own creation.

A few weeks ago I parted out one of my kids' old tricycles and it provided me with a short axle shaft that fits perfectly into the clutch/pedal bracket on the car- you would have thought it had been made just for this purpose. The pedal itself was made from a piece of 5/16ths x 1 inch stock from my scrap pile. I nearly tore my vice off my workbench making the bends. I used a photo of a stock clutch pedal to get a general idea of the size and shape of things. The hardest part was getting the nerve to cut off part of the brake pedal. I'm using a Mustang II clutch cable so I fabbed a mounting pin from a 3/8ths inch bolt. Yesterday, I cut the hole in the firewall and mounted the cable. With the pedal even with the brake pedal, I get about 1.5 inches of cable travel before the pedal hits the foor.

Overall, I must say I am extremely pleased with the result- especially considering that I've got less than $25 into the project, which includes some used clutch/brake pedal pads courtesy of ebay.

 

[1969XR7Vert]

Jody,

Being one myself, 'ya gotta love cheapskates! Awesome!!!

Now, what I think would be even slicker would be to make a clutch pedal from a brake pedal and then it would follow the same line as the brake pedal (duh! obviously!). I have always hated the difference in the way the two pedals look (and the height difference) to the point that I almost did what I am suggesting. However, since I had the '70 pedal, I just "got over it" and used it.

If I was retired, I would have done it, just for the F' of it!

Bravo, fellow cheapskate!

P.S. Can you imagine how hard it was for me to fork out the money (and bend over) for one of these?:

http://www.mustangsplus.com/xcart/1969-70-Camera-Case-Black-Billet-DIN-Radio-Bezel.html

 

[jshcobra]

That actually was my first thought, but the clutch pedal has to curve much differently than the brake pedal about halfway up because they go on different sides of the steering column. My second thought was to cannibalize the clutch pedal from my still dormant Cobra II, but fortunately for it, it's clutch pedal is much too short. The clutch pad arrived this afternoon and with that on, only someone really familiar with clutch pedals would realize it's not stock.

Now I wish I could come up with an el - cheapo solution for a console pad that would not require me cutting up my good automatic pad.

 

[CATNAPPIN]

Could you cut the bottom off of a brake pedal, turn it 180 degrees, an weld it back together so that the curve will now match the steering column?

 

[Dr.Art]

nice job
care to make a second one ???

 

[jshcobra]

nice job
care to make a second one ???

My welding skills are not something that I would wish to have publicly exposed.

 

[mo2872]

My welding skills are not something that I would wish to have publicly exposed.

LMAO......mine either!

Good job, though!

 

[DesertDawg]

...P.S. Can you imagine how hard it was for me to fork out the money (and bend over) for one of these?:

http://www.mustangsplus.com/xcart/1969-70-Camera-Case-Black-Billet-DIN-Radio-Bezel.html

Holy God, Bob!!! :eek2:


Maybe you mentioned the price of that hunk o' melted-down beer cans in the thread you started; but I don't remember seeing it..... :uhoh:
Jeeze I hope the Bramlett's bought you some very nice flowers, maybe a little jewelery, and took you to the mother of all prime rib/lobster dinners before selling you that bezel; 'cause I'm pretty sure they didn't respect you in the morning, no matter what they promised over dessert!

For 350 clams, I can probably find a few more 71-2-3 Mustangs being junked to get extra bezels for my car; and just keep practising on the Dremel until I get it right! Even at the $109.95 they want for the plastic bezel to fit my car, I could get 3-4 more bezels and a "tube" each of the fiberglas reinforced cut-off wheels and sanding discs.

Yeesh!

EDIT: On the other hand, I'd spring for a good original or well-made repro clutch pedal - separating the gearbox from an engine with a stuck accellerator linkage seems like a good enough reason to pay for a professionally made part.

 

[cougarman187]

What diameter is the rod that goes into the brake pedal hanger? The pivot point? I'm inspired by your work and am considering doing the same! Did you use an actual clutch pedal and pad or did you use the pad and match it to a piece of steel?

 

[jshcobra]

The pivot rod is actually an axle shaft from an old tricycle. I never actually measured it because it just happened to be exactly the right length and diameter. Now that it's installed in the car, there's no way to fit a caliper up in there to be sure, but it looks to be 5/8 inch in diameter. The plate the pad slips over was made from some scrap steel based on measurements from the brake pedal pad. Here's a pic now that I have both clutch and brake pedal pads installed. (yes, that's road salt and slush).

 

[1969XR7Vert]

Jody,

You have done all us childhood tricycle riders turned motorheads in adulthood proud. I cannot think of anything more fitting for the axle of kids old tricycle to be part of than what you have used it for!

Part of a kids "wheels" becomes part of an adults "wheels", I love it.

You might want to consider welding the nut you have on the left of the shaft or make sure ist is plenty tight and use loctite. They tend to work loose or at least the swage on my original did, but then I had some bodacious pressure plates back in the day. Maybe not so much of an issue with the type of clutch you will be using and perhaps the cable arrangement has more of a mechanical advantage.

Also (not that it really matters) but the clutch pedal pad is supposed to be a little lower than the brake pedal pad rather than the other way 'round. I have always hated this but it is the way they were. If I was making one I would make them even (and have the same shape as the brake pedal as I mentioned).

Regardless, I salute your "make your own" ingenuity!

Regards,

Bob

 

[jshcobra]

Thanks for the kind words, Bob. I'm a firm believer in recycling stuff. (actually, I just don't throw stuff away). By lower, do you mean that the clutch pedal is supposed to be longer than the brake pedal or that the clutch pedal should be further back in its "swing" when at rest? (does that make any sense?) I just assumed they should be even and so that's how I made my setup. In the pic, the pedal is swung back toward the floorboard because the other end of the cable isn't hooked up to anything yet. I expect that where the pedal actually will end up relative to the brake pedal change once the cable is adjusted. I'm using a Zoom diaphram style pressure plate on a stock 289 flywheel to keep pedal effort to a minimum.

 

[1969XR7Vert]

Good questions Jody. By lower I mean the clutch pedal pad is lower (up and down) than the brake pedal, i.e., the clutch pads bottom is a little lower than the brake pads bottom, you should be able to sort of see that in the pictures I posted. But, you bring up another good question. The clutch pedal at rest also rides significantly higher (toward you) than the brake pedal (another thing I hate about it in fact). However, having said these things, if yours ends up working well as you have made it, to he!! with how OEM pedals are! Assuming this to be the case, the only thing I would have changed if I had done it is to make the pedal lever follow the brake pedal lever shape.

I understand that diaphragm clutch is the way to go for less pedal effort and I am installing a Centerforce dual friction 11" http://www.mustangsunlimited.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=DF700000+01 setup in mine.

Best of luck with the conversion.

 

[jshcobra]

I'll be using a Zoom diaphram style clutch/pressure plate setup on a stock 289 flywheel. I hope to get started on the swap this weekend and I'll report in on the results soon.

 

[jshcobra]

Finally got around to performing the swap and am happy to report it was a success. My homemade clutch pedal works perfectly. It's great to have 5 fully functional foreward gears (the aod was down to 2 and 1/2).

 

[Cougar_is_Grr8]

I will always prefer jamming gears to slushing it.

 

[cougarshaman]

Very very cool.

Thanks for posting this.
I had a set of Chevelle pedals I picked up at a swap meet I was going to use, and then gave them away to a Chevelle nut I know.
This is way easy, or looks it.

 

[1969XR7Vert]

Great work Jody!

 

[jshcobra]

Overall, the swap went very smoothly. The only surprise was that my AOD crossmember didn't line up with the transmission mount as well as I had expected. I had to redrill new holes in the mount to gain the extra 3/4 inch to make it work. The shifter is snug against the front edge of the opening in the floor so I may trim that a wee bit or just leave it for now and see if it rattles. I test fit the console and I think I may be able to get by without chopping up my automatic pad by modifying the shift lever to mount to the other side of the shifter base. Here are a few pics. (the brake pedal pad looks like it's chopped off but that's just the angle of the pic. It's actually a repop pad and trim assembly from MustangsPlus.)

 

[CougarCJ]

My T-5 with positive stop shifter also hits the very leading edge of the floor opening. Going to hit it with the Plasma cutter eventually.

What are your plans for that Fox Mustang shifter? Sure was uncomfortable to lean forward to make a shift.

The one pictured is from some kind of GM car with automatic. I like the faux 1967 looking reverse lever.