Do you know what part is in the picture?
This is a pedal stop. It is used on any of the air cooled cars that have a pan - that leaves the buses out. If you have a bus, this article doesn’t apply to you.
So what does this do and where does it go? This is a stop that is bolted to the pan behind the pedals. It is used for setting your pedals in relationship to the pan. If you don’t have one your clutch pedal will fall to the pan towards the driver’s seat, not good. The cable will be off the hook and you no longer have a way to disengage the clutch. If you look at the picture you will see a slotted hole. This is your adjustment. If you move the stop towards the front of the car the pedals will angled more towards the seat and vise a versa.
Before we get carried away let’s look at the pedals. On cast pedals you will notice there is a little tab on the bottom. This tab is what hits the pedal stop. On the cast pedals you will see that it is centered. On sheet metal pedals it’s off set towards the front of the car. So what? If you’re thinking of doing a pedal swap you will need to modify the stop so the pedals don’t fall forward or be too far forward. The worst thing you could do is have a cast pedal and a sheet metal pedal on the same assembly. If you do, one pedal will have the stop in the middle the other stop will be offset. You pedal stop won’t work right at all.
Here is a picture of what’s going on.
Before you go out and adjust your stop, please read all of this. This is how I go about it. First take out your brake push rod. It will be attached to your brake pedal and goes forward into the master cylinder. On cast pedals you will have to bend up a tab to remove the pin that holds it to the brake pedal. On sheet metal pedals the brake return spring hook will have to be taken off the pin that holds the rod to the brake pedal. Once you have the rod out now would be a good time to clean it up and make sure you can adjust it by hand. If you look at it, you will see a jam nut on the threaded rod the fits into the clevis. Loosen the nut and unthread the rod. You may need vise grips. What I like to do is wire brush the threads and if they are really bad I use a tap and die to chase the threads on the rod and the clevis and even the nut. What you want is to be able to thread the rod into the clevis by hand, and be able to run the nut down by hand. Next I coat the threads in anti-seize so I don’t have to go through all that again.
Why are we doing all this? This is about the pedal stop and not the brakes. Here’s why: When you adjust your pedals you will need to adjust this rod. Failure to do so can result in your brakes locking up on you.
Now the pedal stop. Get a 13mm socket and an extension about six inches. With your ratchet loosen the bolt that holds the pedal stop to the floor. Hang on to the pedals. Whatever you do don’t let the clutch pedal hit the floor. If you do you will have to take the whole assembly off and get the clutch cable back on the hook. Now with one hand hold the pedals where you want them (get them even) and while holding them push the stop against the pedals and tighten the bolt back up. Now let go of the pedals. Are they even? Do you like the angle they are setting at? If not try again.
Once you have it where you want it, it’s time to get the brake rod back in. You should start by having the rod threaded all the way into the clevis. Install the clevis back into the brake pedal with the rod going into the master cylinder. If you have cast pedals don’t forget about the tab. You have to have it. If you don’t you will be driving down the road and the pin will fall out and guess what? No brakes. Once you have the pin in, bend the tab back down as to not allow the pin to fall out. If you don’t have a tab then get one, they’re cheap. It’s a good idea to use some white grease on the pin. If you have sheet metal pedals, use some white grease on the pin that sticks out of the brake pedal and reinstall the hook end of the spring back onto the pin.
Now the important part- this is a feel thing. With your fingers adjust the brake rod out until you feel it hitting inside the master cylinder. Then back it off a hair. Now with one hand push on the brake pedal. You want to feel about a 16th to an 1/8th of movement before the rod hits inside the master cylinder. Make sure what your feeling is not any slop in the clevis pin. I can’t tell you how import this adjustment is, so take your time here. If you get it too tight the fluid in the master cylinder can’t return to the reservoir when you let off the brakes and your brakes will lock up; Too loose and you won’t be taking advantage of the full stroke of you master cylinder hydraulics and won’t have a good pedal. So take your time. Once you have it, hold the rod still and thread down the jam nut and tighten nut. See why we spent so much time cleaning that up?
Here is where I see problems. Guys replace pans and throw the old pedal stop away. Oops. Some new pans have the nut in the pan for the pedal stop in the wrong place or don’t have one at all. Guys who are swapping pedals will have to modify or make their own stops, as the tabs on the pedals are in different spots from cast to sheet metal pedals. For those of you having brake issues, I wrote an article on brakes, called “Give me a break” that you’ll want to refer to.