Troubled by The Pedals on Your Jupiter?

[Leo Bolter]

I only wear size 8 in shoes, but I find that when wearing current footwear "fashion", shoes, Trainers and Gumboots (Wellies to you Poms ) etc. I have occasional occasions when I find that my right shoe fouls with the brake pedal pad when I'm actually in the process of aiming to press the accelerator. In other words those two pedal pads are far too close together on the Jupiter. Perhaps people had delicate little feet in the 40s and 50s . . . ?

So, what to do? One can't move the pedal pivot position or crank the quadrant, so how about moving the FOOT-PAD sideways by shifing the mounting bolt from the centre to near the right hand edge? There'd be a gap gain of about 15 to 20 mm.

I'm intending to make one like this for myself by modifying a existing one. If the modified pad is made from a existing one, the rubber will very likely be burnt off, so a similar detachable replacement rubber pad surface will need to be procured from a "classic trim" company. Two will probably be wanted so as to have matching rubbers. Most of our pedal rubbers are pretty worn by now anyway . . . .

The pedal pad shouldn't cost much to modify . . . would probably need to be run on a exchange basis, but that depends . . . I've yet to determine how common they are in our spares stores. The cost and availability of replacement rubber pads is unknown at this point in time. Any extras I make will be made available from the JCC of NZ Spares.

Is anyone else interested?

[Leo Bolter]

Is anyone else interested?

Well . . . there's been no response, but in the meantime I have modified a pedal pad for myself. EDITED: 17 Feb.

Here's what I have done:
1/ Burnt the rubber off in a fire and wire brushed the metal clean (Don't put in a fire that's too hot . . there's bronze welding under the rubber)
2/ Marked off a curved cut (as shown in the image) on the correct (right or left) side of the pad. This will depend on whether you prefer the offset of the mounting bolt to be "up" or "down".
3/ Using a "Abrafile" in a hacksaw frame, cut the marked piece off.
4/ File or grind away any bronze that may be on the strip that's about to be fusion welded (fusion welding contaminated with bronze is not good).
5/ (MIG) weld the strip to the other edge of the pad from whence it came.
6/ Clean up the weld if necessary and paint the pad.
7/ Fit a new rubber.

01 Cut off from one side (pc).jpg

02 Beware of Bronze (pc).jpg

[Forumadmin]

Clever approach, just wondering whether the offset pressure on the pedal might wear bearing or stress pedal shaft? I have noticed occasionally my foot catching the pedal when moving quickly to brake, so this mod may make it safer, as long as you do not hit the brake when trying to use the clutch, as then you may find someone up your rear! This often happened to me on automatic American cars. Soon learnt.

[Leo Bolter]

as long as you do not hit the brake when trying to use the clutch, as then you may find someone up your rear!

I do know that feeling . . I was especially vulnerable to this when we had a auto Princess and a manual Princess. Being identical in almost every way it was easy to forget which car you were in especially when in a situation of "stress".
One particularly memorable time was when I had pulled out of a side entrance onto a busy street to find that the car I had seen as being at a safe distance to my right as I entered the roadway, was approaching my rear at great rate of knots! I accelerated rapidly, grabbed the gear lever and slammed my foot onto the clutch to change gear . . . and discovered, abruptly, that I was actually driving the auto car !!

As you say,"learn quickly"!

[Jack]

To achieve the same, wouldn't it be possible to modify the top of the accelerator pedal? The profile at the bottom would be the same, but it then cranks over once it has gone past the mechanism.

Not sure if I'd remodel an accelerator pedal without checking if there were spares available though - not such an issue with brake pedals in our spares.

Jack.

[Forumadmin]

The Javelin accelerator pedal is very close to the wheel arch and cannot really be moved. The Jupiter could be changed to the roller type on the Javelin perhaps? But then heeling and toeing would be more difficult. You need really small feet to do H&T on a Javelin.

I did not have the phantom clutch problem on European or British cars only the American ones I drove that seemed to have a triple width brake pedal to allow for left and right foot braking. I drove the automatic Subaru and the manual Subaru interchangeably with no problems. I think the key was a foot rest for the left foot in the automatic that subliminaly reminded you.

I also tried, unsuccessfully, to use left foot braking on manual cars on rallies and ice driving. Does anybody else use that technique? The aim is to balance the car through use of simultaneous throttle and brakes. The technique can also be combined by the experts with brake balance adjustments and handbrake use.

[Leo Bolter]

. . . . . use left foot braking on manual cars on rallies and ice driving. Does anybody else use that technique?

Yes, I do. I consistently use my left foot on the brake on the auto and used it at appropriate times on the manual*, leaving the right doing the necessary actions on the accelerator, but not for rallying racing etc. It's just a habit I use in general driving . . useful if one needs to change from braking to acceleration instantly (like the example below/above? ). I find that the control of the engine revs (idle revs) available is of considerable use when manoeuvring, especially when the engine's cold and the power steering is working hard . . then, it's likely to stall the engine.
My wife cannot manage to do this trick and will murmur "sweet somethings" under her breath when the engine has to be re-started a couple of times when backing out our drive on cool mornings!

* we no longer have the faithful old manual Princess, it's last journey was on the back of a truck going to the crusher . . . it possibly has a new life now as a panel on a Kia!

[Leo Bolter]

Mission accomplished . . .

03 Old Pad (pc).jpg

04 Modified Pad (pc).jpg

A spacing gain of about 15 mm . . .

Leo