Heel and toe

[Morton]

One of the joys of driving manual, is the ability to downshift while braking, in preparation for a corner, instead of having to wait 'till you mash the throttle to find second gear

One of the not-joys of driving my manual VQ, is the inability to heel or side-step the accelerator consistently while braking, due to its inconvenient proximity as pictured below:





To all you T5 drivers out there, is your accelerator this far to the right? Or is there a different manual accelerator bar?

I want to move the throttle about an inch closer to the brake pedal Any bright ideas out there in those big 'ole brains around JC?

Short of being able to pick up any bolt-ons, I would have to take the actual pedal assembly somewhere, for someone to bend it into a more convenient shape. If I had to do this, would anybody know a good place to start asking?

Just putting all of this out there - feel free to suggest anything at all! (except bigger feet. I can't get bigger feet.)

[centy]

mate it would not be hard to do your self wihout and special skill as long as do do not mind it being a little lower. with some skill and tolls the same height.
remove from car
straighten the kinks out a little to move it accross.
This will make it lower, not an ideal fix.
same thing but either cut a bit out of the shaft and weld back together, a sleeve over the join would make it stronger.
Or you could just straighten it and then cut some of the bottem and then reshape the bottom back to the original to fit the pedal.

Another method would be to get some of the dressup pdeal that go over you originals as the will make them closer together.

[Smitty]

with a bit of work...and a bit of patience you can get 'em nice and close


like on the race car


also did the same on the SS

hth

Smitty

[Stretchomatic]

turn the accelerator pedal sideways...

[Pub247]

If your looking to get it bent to desire angle see an engineering workshop theyll be able to do that in 5mins with an oxy and the re-harden at the same time. Smitty looks like you bent the brake pedal instead of accelerator. Have you tried flatshifting yet morton? another one of the joys of manuals

[TheyDontWantMusic]

turn the accelerator pedal sideways...

or just make the whole pedal bigger

[Stretchomatic]

haha or that...pretty sure theres legalities for our ideas...

definitely see if u can cut and weld or get an engineering place to do it...

[Lost_Pete]

I measured the distance between the brake pedal and the accelerator. Mine is 75mm and I normally do heel and toe but I do need to twist my foot a bit.

[Kruza]

it may just be that u have an auto accelerator pedal, and a manual pedal box..duh!!!!lol

u should be able to bend it over to the left a fair bit, as if ur turnin the pedal at the bottom.. but, as PUB24/7 mentioned earlier, it might be better [for legalities], to consult an engineer first bro... in case there is major problems later..
i.e. broken pedal, unneccessary pedal twisting...

or u could go to wreckers, and get another pedal from another manual shell....

[rawsonn]

i would definatly see a engineeer first mate .... will prob need a engineers cert for roadworthy anyways

[hjtrbo]

Left foot brake and pretend you gotta dog box.

[Bz Kn33z]

I dont think mine is that far apart either, if it was me i would cut abit of it and bend it into shape and if i stuffed up i would hit up the wreckers there might be different types.

[Pub247]

I'm not saying see an engineer i doubt anyone would ever notice it being bent 50mm to one side there's isnt any sort of huge load on a pedal which would cause a peice of metal that thick to break. I suggested a engineering workshop as they'd have the right tools to bend it properly but all you'll need is an oxy and some oil to harden the metal in. I suggest removing it from the car before heating it with an oxy

[Lost_Pete]

Wow, it looks pretty far on my car too! (Manual from the factory)

[Haydz]

Standard vr. looks a little closer.

[Kruza]

Wow, it looks pretty far on my car too! (Manual from the factory)

maybe, but urs aint as wide apart as mortons.....
urs is closer by heaps...

[Morton]

Thanks for all the input fellas I think the idea here may be to grab a second pedal from a wreckers, and have a fiddle with that. See what magic I can perform Will allow for swaps when it comes roadworthy time if it looks particularly suss, aswell as other obvious conveniences.

But first, I'll try sticking it in a vice and hitting it lots. That always makes things bend

[Morton]

with a bit of work...and a bit of patience you can get 'em nice and close


like on the race car

also did the same on the SS

hth

Smitty

Yeah yours looks nuts That's a good distance for heel action

If your looking to get it bent to desire angle see an engineering workshop theyll be able to do that in 5mins with an oxy and the re-harden at the same time. Smitty looks like you bent the brake pedal instead of accelerator. Have you tried flatshifting yet morton? another one of the joys of manuals

Yeah, that would probably be the best idea "engineering workshop" eh? what would a place like this be called? How would I find one? Presumably not under "engineering workshops" in the yellow pages I have absolutely no idea about these things

And no, no flat shifting yet

Left foot brake and pretend you gotta dog box.

LOL, maybe if things get desperate. For now I think I'll keep my synchros though

Wow, it looks pretty far on my car too! (Manual from the factory)

Yeah, yours isn't ideal either.

maybe, but urs aint as wide apart as mortons.....
urs is closer by heaps...

[centy]

another idea, just get a wider foot.
I have an auto and the opposite problem.
hit the brake and the gas at the same time.

[Pub247]

Most are called things like Southport engineering, peirce engineering jack's engineering not too imaganitive are they? look up engineers/engineering in the yellow pages there be plenty listed there. Just when you talk to them or go in (which is what i think is better) it helps if you have a clear idea or drawing of what you want done. like for instance saying it must maintain its current length and angle but but moved an inch to left or right.

I think the brake pedal should be the one you get done i remember with my work boots on sometimes id hit the clutch as they were pretty close together

[DavoVP]

Mine is about the same as in the pics, i just twist my foor a bit and brake with my big toe and accelerate with the side/heal of my foot.

I find it helps tremenusly with the old box in my vp to get a very smooth change with minimal clutch wear if you can match the revs perfectly, takes practice but can be done.

Also sounds dam sweet when you nail it. ( used to do nothing but heal toe in my astra prob ony reason box and clutch lasted 130k before i got rid of it )

Ohhh its also good for a dodgy syncro But If they are complety gone double clutching is a must, and thats a whole other kettle of fish.


Flat shifting, do that if you hate your gear box, wont last to long esp on these weak T5's. In the time ive had mine ive killed reverse and the change from 1st to 2nd is a bit notchy and i havent flat shifted it yet !

[pow3rslave]

mine seems fine to me, but when i put the new pedals on mine, the accelerator was rubbing on the kick panel for a bit, i ended up shifting it over a bit.

[PaRaDoX]

so your telling me commodores come in manual??>?!!?!?! NO WAI!!!

[azkwazere]

See mine arnt that far apart... but i also have aftermarket pedals... that and really big feet and consequently shoes

that and i tend to use the left part of the shoe for braking and the right for acc when downshifting.. could never bend my foot in such a way to heel and toe properly...

aZk.