Just “pedaling” along

Many years ago a friend on the mainland asked if I could help with a problem on his heavily modified Mk 2 (420 Engine, triple Webbers, that sort of stuff) – He was having a major stumbling block with the rear Webber carb fouling the master cylinders, being thousands of Kilometers apart, and only a couple photos to work from, it was not something I could envision finding a solution too.
Sometimes the planets just seem to align! In this case, I was lucky enough to get a good close look at Wayne Double’s old car (now in the hands of Rocky Carosi.)

Plus, scoring a pedal box from an old Mk1 Jag body that was about to go to the crusher at the Triabunna tip – we got there just as the scrappy was about to pick it up in the jaws of his excavator!

 

Still only guessing what clearances would be needed for Webbers instead of the SU’s, it was time to build a timber ‘mockup’ to evaluate various angles to achieve as much clearance as possible and not foul the fire wall.

Once a suitable angle was determined, it was time to migrate to steel (thinking an engineer would be happier with that instead of aluminium)

After the fulcrum section is finalized, the base is developed (in timber again) – this has to be quite a bit oversize as the owner had modified his bulk head trying to find a solution – it will need to be trimmed to shape in the car, but the original bolt holes are drilled (as a couple were still in the car for a location reference).

The side bracing is shaped to follow the swing arms as close as possible to get maximum clearance to the carburetor. As the pedals needed some machining, he sent his set (which was lucky, as they were slightly different to the old Mk1pedals!)

The final bit is a cover to ensure the engine bay and car cabin are isolated (noise, fire, fumes etc.)

With the 3 stages sitting together, one would think it was a straightforward progression, but trust me, there were many months of head scratching in between!

 

There was still an issue with pedal heights when it was installed, but a 3rd party did that bit, and I think it was positioned a little further back than the original (too many cooks in the kitchen!)

 

 

Oh wait – there is more!

During this pedal box project, I noticed the old Mk1 pedals when cleaned up, had part numbers on them (the pedals that were sent over also had part numbers, that indicated they were from a 420, that’s why they were slightly different)
Another good friend in Hobart had an unusual pedal problem in his Mk2 – they just didn’t seem to be spaced properly (he had converted it to a syncro gearbox many years ago using all Australian sourced components) – I thought it was just something to do with the Auto floor-pan being a bit different maybe? A quick call to Hobart for some pics of his pedal numbers, and sure enough, his were Left Hand drive pedals!

Some would be thinking, ‘that poor old Mk1 at the tip going to the crusher’.
Well that poor old Mk1 wasn’t in too good a state, and had donated quite a lot (including its ID numbers), and now it helped 2 more cars to be driven & enjoyed!
May she rest in peace.

And I didn’t have to dismantle Pearl to achieve any of it! – but only just…

Cheers,
Grant Rodman