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Location:
Hobart, Tasmania
Registered:
June 2005
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 Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Fri, 08 July 2005 15:09
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Last week I ordered some Sparco 'Grip' pedals for my mark two Supra from wheelspin.com.au (they were on special). Originally I was going to post a topic about how painfully hard it was to get the little rubber studs into the pedal, but the journey had only just begun.
All work below has been carried out by a complete amateur, with really ancient hand tools I found in the shed (except for a brand new set of Bondhus hex keys, which seem to be the best allen keys I've ever used). Also, this work was all completed after dark, in the freezing temperatures of Tasmania, under the light of a surprisingly awesome $20 dual halogen spot light from SuperCheap Auto.
[Pedals fresh out of the box]
It took me and my mum three days to get all the little rubber studs in, mainly due to the pain induced by the pressure required. I started using a small screw driver after a few studs, and have ended up badly bruising the meaty part of my palm. The tip of my thumb is so bad that it hurts too much to play my playstation.
So I had a day off while trying to source a drill. At this time, I still had no intention of documenting the whole procedure, so I'm sorry I have no pictures of myself in agony after inserting the rubber stops. Once I had a drill, things seemed to be going too good to be true, the first hole I drilled in the brake was perfect. I then placed the pedal over the hole to mark where the lower hole was to go. The second hole drilled perfectly too. But then when I mounted the pedal, all hell started to break loose. At first, the lower bolt didn't have enough clearance to accept the nut, so I started filing away at the arm in an attempt to make it fit. This was extremely awkward to carry out, but I got the job done and the nut now had plenty of space.
[The filed away section of the brake arm (photo taken later in the procedure)]
But this was the least of my troubles compared to what was to come. When the top of the pedal was screwed in, the bottom wouldn't line up, and vice versa. I tried to overcome this by widening the hole dangerously with the drill, which kind of worked until I realised the problem was on a much larger scale.
The original plates/pedals that were welded onto the arms were pushing against the back of the rubber stops, which didn't allow for a flush fit, and also caused the rubber stops to protrude (don't worry, I realised before any fell out). I was at the end of my tether already, and knew what had to be done, although there was no way that I was going to use the rusty old blade on my hack saw to attempt it.
So after a night's sleep I went and bought a brand new 24T Stanley blade for my saw, and started hacking away at the welded on original plates/pedals.
[Hacking unnecessary pieces of the plate off]
After a little while, I had both sides of the pedal off, with plenty of room.
[Plate mutilation complete, and ready for pedal to be mounted]
Seemed pretty easy, the pedal fitted fine, and looked pretty nice to me. It was a little tricky to hold the nut at the back with pliers while tightening the screw with an allen key, but well worth the fiddling when I was so close to completion.
[The brake pedal mounted, and complete]
I was all ready to start work on the clutch pedal, which I thought would require the same kind of treatment. But I think the clutch pedal arm had other ideas. It wasn't straight like the brake pedal arm, it curved in at a 45 degree angle from the left. Even the point where the plate was welded onto the arm wasn't straight. So I hacked away at the right hand side, while thinking of how to cut the left hand side off without taking half of the arm with it. I couldn't think of anything that didn't require tools that I did not have (a grinder), so I tried my best with the hack saw. This was exceptionally hard, being limited to a stroke of about 3cm by the floor of the car, and having to be on such an angle as to not hack straight through the arm itself.
[The trickiest part]
All of the sawing was extremely hard, even though I don't emphasize its difficulty, I'm sure you can imagine how frustrating it was. Taking into account the saw stroke length limit, and the general inconvenience of trying to get at the pedals while they were still mounted in my car.
I got about half way, then couldn't go any further due to the saw having no room to move (was hitting the floor of the car, forced by the angle it had to be on). There was also a huge, terrible weld under the left hand side, which I probably couldn't have cut through even if I did have ample space. So I started chopping from the bottom of the pedal.
[The even trickier than trickiest part]
I also came to a halt at the bottom end of the really bad weld; it deserved the pliers.
[Bending the piece backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards...]
After a lot of work to weaken the weld that was determined not to let go of the plate, it finally came off.
[Finally snapped off]
And yes, that silvery blob on the left is the weld. After a bit of filing/sanding, it was finally ready for the new pedal.
[Clutch and brake pedals mounted and complete]
I am now up to mounting the accelerator pedal, which I have not yet started or attempted due to a few different reasons. I will be having my accelerator pedal arm bent forward so that it sits at the same depth as my brake/clutch, at the moment it is about 5cm deeper. I am also completely removing the mouse-trap plastic pedal and having a plate welded onto the arm a little lower, to accomodate for the raise in depth, and to allow heel/toe without spraining my ankle.
I will update on Monday after I have the accelerator pedal arm completed. Thanks for reading, any comments/suggestions welcome 
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Location:
Kita-Ku, Sapporo, Japan
Registered:
January 2003
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Fri, 08 July 2005 17:29
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i can:t believe you cut away your pedals to fit unsafe, silly looking bling crap....... amazing.. it MUST be cold down there;)
but anyway, good pics, good documentation  .. but why?
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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne.victoria.austra...
Registered:
June 2002
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
February 2003
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Fri, 08 July 2005 23:29
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I've always wanted these pedals but now I'm kinda turned off the idea.
The end product looks good though!
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Location:
c'town, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 00:02
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tell us again why u needed to cut the existing pedals to fit these?
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Location:
Kita-Ku, Sapporo, Japan
Registered:
January 2003
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 01:43
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because the rubber studs protrude thru the new pedal, and would have spaced the new pedal off from the old one.....
i must admite the sparco name looks nice, but you could have almost the same effect by drilling the bare metal pedals and putting the rubber studs (with much agny of course) into your existing pedals....
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
June 2003
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 02:14
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OMG  I dont want to see the article on fitting bucket seats..
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Location:
Adelaide, SA
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 02:19
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Poor ma61 pedals 
I find the standard pedals with standard rubber covers are good!
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Location:
Adelaide, SA
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 02:21
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| supré-mkii wrote on Sat, 09 July 2005 00:39 |
I am now up to mounting the accelerator pedal, which I have not yet started or attempted due to a few different reasons. I will be having my accelerator pedal arm bent forward so that it sits at the same depth as my brake/clutch, at the moment it is about 5cm deeper. I am also completely removing the mouse-trap plastic pedal and having a plate welded onto the arm a little lower, to accomodate for the raise in depth, and to allow heel/toe without spraining my ankle.
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If you need the accelerator pedal moved to heel/toe while braking, you aren't braking late enough
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Location:
VIC, Sth Frankston.
Registered:
July 2003
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 03:08
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Why?
Good article, but I really hate crappy ricey cheap crap that doesn't do a thing towards improving the performance.
Especially those fucking retarded fuel door stickers.
Cheers
James
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Location:
Perth Western Australia
Registered:
April 2004
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 03:20
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True Viper , but having some sweet pedals to slam ya foot down on take off is much more acceptable than those fuel cap stickers
i think they look great , dont listen to anyone telling u otherwise supré 
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Epping, Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 03:26
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the only reason I'd consider this type of pedal is to make heel & toeing easier - but i figure a day at the track will fix that.
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Registered:
June 2005
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 03:48
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but whats the point of having this madly fast car if it looks like a datsun 120B thats spent a good half of its life rusting at the local tip
i think its cheaper to do up your car asthetically (ass-thet-ic-ly)and your bound to get more pussy in a good looking car then some fast thing.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Epping, Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 04:07
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well, I guess some of us either:
a) care more about our car's performance
b) don't need a riced up wog chariot to pick up
c) don't want to pick up the skanks typically attracted by aforementioned type of car.
no offence to the skanks attracted to a guy with above car, regardless of his looks, intellect, or personal hygiene - you'll make a great Penriff mum, or if you're really good you may aspire to being a trophy wife.
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Location:
Hobart, Tasmania
Registered:
June 2005
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 04:33
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rice?
wow I never thought i'd get that kind of response. these pedals were the most plain and functional pedals I could find, it's not like they have flashing LEDs around them.
and the conversion has nothing to do with aesthetics, as i'm sure you could've guessed by noticing i have no carpet in the car, and half the under part of the dash missing with wires hanging everywhere. I didn't simply drill holes in my old pedals to insert rubber bits because the pedals are simply too small for my liking, and the accel pedal needs its depth changed. the height of the plastic pedal in a stock ma61 compared to the other pedals is uncomfortable and just something I didn't want to have to get used to..
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Epping, Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 04:34
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my response was more to NUT_54C, not to you dude
my old celica had nice shiny blue "race pedals" too.. and I actually quite like the feel of them.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Australia
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 04:51
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| rob_RA40 wrote on Sat, 09 July 2005 08:02 |
tell us again why u needed to cut the existing pedals to fit these?
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Location:
Hobart, Tasmania
Registered:
June 2005
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 05:26
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oldcorollas already answered this, and it is in part of my post..
the side parts of the plates were pushing against the back of the rubber studs, causing them to fall out when the pedal was tightened onto the plate. I was asked on another forum why I didn't just use a washer/spacer...eheh i'm an idiot.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
sydney.au
Registered:
August 2002
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Australia
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 07:49
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| supré-mkii wrote on Sat, 09 July 2005 13:26 |
oldcorollas already answered this, and it is in part of my post..
the side parts of the plates were pushing against the back of the rubber studs, causing them to fall out when the pedal was tightened onto the plate. I was asked on another forum why I didn't just use a washer/spacer...eheh i'm an idiot.
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Thats fair enough, but the washers would have been a much better idea.
Have you checked to see that what you have done is legal?
Or does this not phase you?
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Location:
Hobart, Tasmania
Registered:
June 2005
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 09:54
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yeah i've investigated the legal side of things. these pedals are fine, but if i didn't put the rubber stops in them they would be illegal. so much for the other 99.9% of cars that have plastic accelerator pedals 
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Australia
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 10:13
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I'm not talking about the pedals you put on, I'm talking about cutting up the factory pedals.
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Location:
Hobart, Tasmania
Registered:
June 2005
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 12:03
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why on earth would that be illegal?
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Location:
Hobart, TAS
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 14:34
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Chopping up factory parts is not liked very much by authorities, especially chopping up pedals like the brakes. Dosn't matter about the new ones you've put in, as they are supported by the cut factory ones. Issues about being as 'rock solid' as they were when they left the factory. e.g weakening the welds. I personally dont think you'll have too much of a problem with authrities down here though... Just try and keep them out of sight if thats possible when police pull you over.
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
July 2004
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 14:48
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We will never ALL agree on any mod.
Many think anyone modifying a car at all is an idiot.
We love toyotas,we think they are well engineered,so we go and modify them! To be different,to customise to our personal taste,to have ownership.Its all good!
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Location:
Kita-Ku, Sapporo, Japan
Registered:
January 2003
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sat, 09 July 2005 14:50
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| manmx83 wrote on Sun, 10 July 2005 00:48 |
We love toyotas,we think they are well engineered,so we go and modify them!
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ironic huh
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Location:
c'town, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Pedal Installation Nightmare (huge post, 56k go make some hot chocolate)
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Sun, 10 July 2005 22:57
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| CrUZsida wrote on Sat, 09 July 2005 17:49 |
washers
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Location:
Hobart, Tas
Registered:
May 2002
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