Pedal Restoration

[340Challman]

Hi Guys, I've reached the part in my restoration to do the pedals. Do you guys restore your own pedals? Looking at the clutch return spring, it doesn't look fun to remove. And then there is the E-brake pedal which doesn't look like it comes apart very easily either. So if you guys do your own pedals, what's your secret? And if you don't, who should I send mine to? I'm actually leaning towards sending them out. My garage in the winter is not the most fun place. Any help appreciated. 

[Dakota]

I don't have a special or numbers car, so I just pulled the brake and clutch pedals out, cleaned them up and painted them.   I did not take out the pedal box.   There's one long bolt that runs through the brake and clutch pedals and their bushings.   Best I can remember, one end of the long bolt is threaded into the pedal box and the other end has flat spots on the bolt shaft to accept a wrench.   Replacement pads are available for clutch, brake and parking brake.  As for the gas pedal, I kept the metal lever part that mounts to the firewall and replaced everything else.   

My car has power brakes.  I found the linkage between the pedal and the booster to be a bit tricky to reinstall in terms of getting the parts in the right orientation, so take lots of pictures so you don't have to rely on your memory of which way the levers and other pieces face.  I had to hang some pieces on the back of the booster while it was off the firewall rather than try to do it from under the dash as I couldn't get my hands close enough to work on them.

The "over center" spring on the clutch looks nasty, but it's not terrible to remove.  I used a loop of 1/4" or 3/8" white (soft) rope and used both hands to pull the spring end enough to free it from the pedal.  It doesn't have to move much... maybe a 1/2" or less?  It's easier to do with the driver seat out, but I've done it at least once with the seat in.

[YYZ]

As long as you respect the clutch over-center spring you should be fine. 

One you take the pedal assembly out, you can move the clutch pedal further than if it is in the car.  There will be a point where there is almost no load on the spring and it is then easy and safe to take off.

The small rod that the clutch spring goes on may be worn — if it's worn badly you can get a replacement from Brewer's inexpensively.

The pivot shaft for the pedals slides out once you undo the locknut on the one end.  It may need some gentle tapping.

The brake pedal will have 2 white plastic bushings which are probably wasted.

The clutch pedal will have 2 small needle bearings (unless it's from a 6 cyl car) and those will probably need replacing. You can use a deep 7/16" socket to tap out the old bearings and set the new ones.

The rest is pretty much a piece of cake.

Brewer's sells complete rebuild kits and other vendors have most of the parts as well. The needle bearings are Torrington B-88 if you have a supplier near you.

Good luck!

[YYZ]

Here is an assembly out of the car.

You can see that if you keep pushing the clutch pedal down it will get to a point where the spring all but drops out.

If the assembly was in the car, the pedal would hit the floor first

[340Challman]

My car has power brakes.  I found the linkage between the pedal and the booster to be a bit tricky to reinstall in terms of getting the parts in the right orientation, so take lots of pictures so you don't have to rely on your memory of which way the levers and other pieces face.  I had to hang some pieces on the back of the booster while it was off the firewall rather than try to do it from under the dash as I couldn't get my hands close enough to work on them.

Ugh! The body shop removed all of the brake hydraulics and pedals because we needed them to safely off load the car. Oh well, I have the assembly manual so I guess I can figure it out. If not, 'hey guys' 

Sounds like I might tackle the brake/clutch combo myself, but what about the E brake pedal? I can't see how to even get the cable off. What am I missing? 

[340Challman]

Here is an assembly out of the car.

You can see that if you keep pushing the clutch pedal down it will get to a point where the spring all but drops out.

If the assembly was in the car, the pedal would hit the floor first

Oh excellent. Yes the pedals are out of the car.

[Dakota]

Sounds like I might tackle the brake/clutch combo myself, but what about the E brake pedal? I can't see how to even get the cable off. What am I missing? 

There's a small pin with a "push on" retainer that connects the cable to the release mechanism.   You can see a picture of it at the bottom of this thread:

https://forum.e-bodies.org/wheels-tires-brakes-suspension-and-steering/12/source-for-pin-to-connect-parking-brake-cable-to-parking-brake-lever-found-it/18001/msg232374#msg232374

Mine went MIA.   I was unsuccessful finding another one online (there are some suggestions in the thread above), so I tried to make one, but fortunately stumbled across the original among a bunch of homeless nuts and bolts.   Take good care of it!

As far as the rest of the cable is concerned, if you look in the driver side wheel well you can see where the parking brake cable goes through a rubber grommet and into the footwell.   There is a set of metal spring fingers on the other side of that grommet which hold it tight against the wheel well.  Working from inside the car, I used a pair of large needle nose pliers to squeeze a couple of the fingers together and a screwdriver to eventually push the whole mess into the wheel well.   It wasn't pretty, but it worked.

[usraptor]

It's not that difficult to do.  However, I will admit I did not separate the ratchet mechanism from the pedal of the emergency brake.  However, I did take off the rest of the small pieces and spring, etc.  Like has already been said, take several before pics from all angles first.  Here's mine, before and after.

[340Challman]

It's not that difficult to do.  However, I will admit I did not separate the ratchet mechanism from the pedal of the emergency brake.  However, I did take off the rest of the small pieces and spring, etc.  Like has already been said, take several before pics from all angles first.  Here's mine, before and after.

Yours turned out great. What did you use to finish the "unfinished" portion?

[anlauto]

Seymour's Stainless Steel paint works great for the "bare metal" look.  or of course you could actually powder coat the items with clear powder coat.

[cuda hunter]

The clutch pedal will have 2 small needle bearings (unless it's from a 6 cyl car) and those will probably need replacing. You can use a deep 7/16" socket to tap out the old bearings and set the new ones.

@YYZ   What is the difference between v8 and v6 clutch pedal needle bearings? 
Is it as simple as the /6 versions did not have the needle bearings and everything else is the same?

Why were they different?

[YYZ]

@cuda hunter the B-88 needle bearings were standard on almost everything.

Presumably the 6 cyl cars had a much lighter clutch so Chrysler figured that they could get away with the bushings instead.  However, that also meant a different clutch pedal with a smaller inside diameter to work with the bushings.

I don't know for how long this was the case.

There are a number of different over-centre springs, with the thickest for 440 and Hemi applications

[340Challman]

@cuda hunter
There are a number of different over-centre springs, with the thickest for 440 and Hemi applications

Interesting. I always thought the purpose of the over center spring was just to keep the pedal weight off of the throwout bearing. As always, learn something new everyday.

[cuda hunter]

I did not realize there was a difference. 
So basically my /6 clutch pedal would need to be changed to a v8 clutch pedal and a set of roller bearings installed to make the set up correct for a 4 speed and v8? 

Or just replace the entire /6 get up with a proper 440 set up with proper spring weight. 

Thanks a ton for this information YYZ!

[YYZ]

To be clear, it's possible that some of the assemblies I've had over the years did not have the original springs.   

IMHO I would take apart your pedals first — there's a good chance it has the bearings.  IIRC I've only had 2 with the bushings and the first one surprised the heck out of me.  But it was definitely E-body.