Pedal Assembly cleanup and gas pedal upgrade

[Martin S.]

I picked up an accelerator pedal upgrade kit made by Unique Parts and since the last time I looked at the pedal assembly was decades ago, I knew it was time for another clean and lube job. Funny how 20 years ago seems reasonably recent after a while...
It was totally worth the sore back and the driving experience upgrade was amazing!

The first step is to have your parts list ready to limit the downtime.

Be ready with some new parts like the clutch cable, throttle cable, Bowden tube for clutch and/or throttle, the rubber seal at the end of the Bowden tube, the seal from the Bowden tube to the tunnel (needs the throttle tube pulled out as well), the brake pedal return spring, the shaft with the hook for the clutch cable if the hook is worn. Check the pedal stop on the pan if it needs attention like welding in a new one.
I found this red grease meant for factory assembly lines with hot water running over them works perfect for many applications such as the clutch cable hook and loop or pedal bushings.
It sticks like $hit to a blanket and won't disappear like other lubes. Scored it from my engine builder but not sure where to find more of it unfortunately.
Since my hook was not worn out I was able to not have take the assembly completely apart and instead soaked in gasoline, power washed and used gear lube to penetrate in and grease around the outside of the bushings.
The Bowden tube was cracked and had lost its shape so a new one was a no brainer, along with the new grease the clutch is much smoother and with the throttle pedal smoother too, it's a joy to drive.

Next project is to get some parts together for a shifter and shaft cleanup and lube.
What's the best shift rod coupler out there now?
Has anyone sent their Berg shifters back to Berg for a freshen-up? That used to be an option, not sure about these days.

[Martin S.]

Check out the YouTube link where he explains the new gas pedal upgrade and how it works.
The construction of it is top-notch with alloy pedal and precision fit fasteners.

https://youtu.be/JLXhukA2oqw

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ] [ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ] [ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[Glauco]

very good wright up! I was think of doing the same this winter so this info is great!

thank you.

[Neil Davies]

Interesting how different they are to RHD pedals. There's none of that casting, just the main shaft running through. I've got early and late assemblies at school, I'll grab a photo after half term.

[leec]

Is it the photo or is the accelerator really close to the brake pedal. My feet wouldn't cope with that!!

Lee

[Martin S.]

Neil, thanks that would be interesting to see.
Lee, the pedals are the usual bug ones so it's the angle of the pic that makes them look close, here's a pic of the pedals from more of a straight on shot.
Bryan on the other thread mentioned that the new pedal is longer than stock so the rubber doesn't fit as nice. I noticed that but it doesn't show in my car, plus I figured it was longer intentionally for a better feel. I tried to get a comparison between the stock pedal I removed and the new one, check it out.

[leec]

Yep, that picture angle looks better

[Neil Davies]

Here you are Martin, early ('66) and late ('71) RHD assemblies, and the 5mm thick plate that needs to be welded to the floor to pick up the end of the late assembly. The accelerator pedal mounts to a simple bracket that is welded to the floor - you might be able to make out the bracket on the old pan half.
[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[Martin S.]

Cool, thanks for the pics!
I see the gas pedal hinge on the floor but what stops the clutch pedal from falling towards you?
LHD has an adjustable stop on the floor but I don’t see the bottom end of the RHD clutch pedal that would hit the stop.

[Nico86]

I see the gas pedal hinge on the floor but what stops the clutch pedal from falling towards you?

If I remember well there's a small spring the stops the gas pedal from going backwards toward the driver, on all the Bugs I've worked with it was broken because of rust.

Thanks for the pics BTW, that's a nice upgrade I'll probably use on one of my Bug that still has the stock pedal assembly.

On my other Bug I did something similar. I installed an alumium Kamei gas pedal that is supposed to work on the older pedal assemby, so I had to cut and adapt a stock alu mounting part (shortening the lower hinge where the stock gas pedal is mounted to let the Kamei hinge being bolted directly).
Then my father machined me a slightly bigger and thicker roller into a piece of Teflon to replace the small stock plastic one, to use it with the Kamei pedal.
Then on the back of the Kamei pedal we put another piece of Teflon all along it, where the roller will roll (and that we also used to align the gas pedal to the other 2, as we didn't make the new Teflon roller too big to be able to use it on the stock roller bracket).

[Neil Davies]

Cool, thanks for the pics!
I see the gas pedal hinge on the floor but what stops the clutch pedal from falling towards you?
LHD has an adjustable stop on the floor but I don’t see the bottom end of the RHD clutch pedal that would hit the stop.

There is a stop as you describe, but I've already taken it off the old pan and I need to add it to the new one. You can just make out the captive nut.

[Eddie DVK]

You guys don t have a slow throttle response with this pedal, I tried a similar one. Did not like it at all.
Noticed a dip in going to full throttle, Looked at the back of an original one and noticed that there is a rail (ramp) that
the throttle follows, that accelerates the further you push you throttle pedal. Lost a lot of snappiness on the response of my engine.
So went back to original set up...

PS See picture 3 in this post is what i mean with the back of an original pedal with the ramp on it.
http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,30686.0.html

[Martin S.]

Yes! I wondered about that ramp on the back of the pedal and how it affected throttle response.
What I found in my car was similar to what is described in the video from the designer.
There was a hiccup, as he calls it with the stock pedal. The upgraded design smooths that out and made my car’s throttle response smoother and predictable.
If your engine responds better with the stock pedal, then that’s great!
For mine the upgrade was a big improvement in daily driving as well as quick shifting and mashing the gas trying to keep up with my friends 325hp Cayman.