Footspace

[fxbill]

I have a CR that was originally setup for a big block....I have a stroker 351W installed instead. The pedal arrangement stinks. There is so little room where they are that you need to hold your foot up above the clutch pedal the whole time you're driving or slip it up and under the clutch pedal because there is ZERO room to the left of the pedal. The bellhousing hump is so wide that there's nearly a foot of clearance to the transmission on either side and the throttle pedal almost rubs the hump on the inside.
Has anyone found a reasonably easy way to modify the footspace in one of these to allow the pedals to be offset enough to give a little space to the left of the clutch and rest your foot when driving?
Thanks for any help!
Bill

[anchor2]

My spf has the same set up. I always thought that was part of the Cobra charm.

[fxbill]

Perhaps so, but I rented a replica in Las Vegas when I was there working on "Oceans 11". I don't know what kit it was, but it very authentic...much more so than mine...( I love the offset shifters...mine doesn't have it). Anyway... the pedals were close, but I had room to the left of the clutch to have a footrest. I take quite a few trips to Santa Barbara driving my daughter back and forth from college...it's around 100 miles and my leg gets so tired from holding it in the air above the clutch that it's ridiculous!

[petek]

fxbill,

I'm sure Don and DV will chime in when they get a chance -- and I'm also sure that they've given the problem a lot more thought than I have ...

I've got the same problem with my CR Cobra and one of these days I'm going to raise the clutch pedal just a wee bit so I can slip my shoe under the clutch pedal when I'm cruisin'. I can *just* get my foot under the pedal right now but in a panic situation I don't need the extra time it'd take to pull my foot out!

I've thought about shifting the whole mess over a couple of inches towards the center tunnel, but I'm pretty sure there just isn't enough clearance between the brake booster and the engine (if I were to try to move everything over).

[fxbill]

Thanks Pete......Glad to hear I'm not the only one with the same problem. The pedals can be cut and rewelded as far as 4 or 5 inches to the right with no problem. I thought of just cutting the tunnel and reglassing a new section into it, but it's not a simple cut and the effect on the firewall would be dramatic...requiring not only new paint, but almost surely the removal of engine and tranny. I wasn't looking forward to that if I could get away without doing it. I don't know what the double wall thickness is to the left of the clutch.....perhaps that could be massaged a little, but I'd rather hear from someone who has already addresssed this issue and has a solid solution.
Bill

[dscott]

That is a problem with the big block frame. The small block frame gives quite a bit more foot room. I used to modify the footwell in the CR with good results. More than likely you will have to replace the carpet unless you can get it out without any damage.

From the bottom of the footwell I use a cutoff wheel to remove the fiberglass floor at the frame level and cut back into the trans hump as far as I can. I then drop the pan about 3", move the hump over about 6" to the right and above the frame rail. Then it's just a matter of patching it all back together or using steel to replace what you removed. It will give you a few more inches of foot room and more room for your leg against the trans tunnel.

Don

[fxbill]

Thanks Don,
I'm trying to envision what you just described, but am getting lost somewhere. Are you saying that you cut the entire hump out and moved it to the right? That can't be right....I've muddled things up somewhere. If it came to that I'd just layup a new hump and make the whole thing narrower....but that's a winter job....I'm drivin now!

[dscott]

I don't remove the entire hump. I just cut away the drivers side above the frame rail to the top of the hump and go towards the center of the car a few inches.. I start about 6" from the front and go back to about 6" from the rear. I then box in the cutout. You can do this with sheetmetal if you don't want to try and fiberglass it in. This is what I do with the footwell also. You can gain a few inches of width by cutting the bottom out and extending the footwell to the sides of the frame. The footwell has quite a bit of room on each side the way it comes from CR. If you look at it from the bottom of the car you will see what I am talking about. I basically move the box out to the frame. I don't have any pictures to post because I haven't done one of these since CR started making the small block frame. I'll post a picture of the new frame and this may help. You can see the firewall is attached on top of the frame and the footwell is lowered and boxed with metal. The tunnel is also smaller in width.
Don

[fxbill]

Thanks Don.....Now I understand....not a bad job to do. I don't mind the glasswork......after 8 Corvettes..all pre '64..... glassing is easier than sheet metal!
Regards,
Bill

[B. SMITH]

DSCOTT,

MAYBE YOU CAN TELL US APPROXIMATELY WHEN THE NARROW FOOT WELL DISAPPEARED FROM CR'S OR EXCAL'S....
IF I UNDERSTAND THI, WIDE WELL= SB AND NARROW WELL= BB.
MINE IS A '96 WITH A SB AND NARROW WELL SO DOES IT FOLLOW THAT MY CAR SHOULD ACCEPT A BIG BLOCK?

THANKS, B. SMITH

[dscott]

Excaliber never had a small block frame. They used the same frame as CR which would accept big or small blocks. The small block frame with the larger footwell started around 1999. The only modification you could get before that was a modified firewall which very few were done, and were done by me. CR still has both frames available. DV said he has installed a big block in the small block frame without any problem which would be great because of the added footroom. Maybe DV can tell us which engine he installed.
Don

[Mr.Fixit]

Some of you guys with a tired left leg might benefit from adding a "dead pedal" to the left of the clutch pedal. Basically a little rest about 1" wide or so, attached to the kick panel, that you can rest your clutch foot on while cruising. Just make sure it won't interfere with your actuating of the clutch pedal. (older) CR's don't have enough room, their footbox is narrow.

[fxbill]

A dead pedal is nice.....My Mitts 3000 has one......Now if I only had a place to put it!

[Bill E]

We have had good results by cutting out the side of the foot box from the calsuport forward and cutting the outside rail behind it and tilting it to the body welding it in place then glassing out to the body this will add about 6 1/2" to the left of the clutch peddle.

[Excaliber]

Man could I use a dead pedal! The Excalibur must be like the old C.R.'s. I'm tempted to get out the torch and have at that baby, it's killing me not having a place to put my clutch foot!

Ernie

[fxbill]

Thank you.....I was wondering how thick the body assembly was to the left of the pedal. I can certainly live with the ankle twisting contorsions that are required for the accelerator, but this sounds like a fairly simple and painless way to pickup that added room to the left of the clutch!

[RockSnake]

While building my car, I recognized the same issue with footspace. Prior to assembly, I "pushed out" all of the reliefs for big-block heads, headers, etc.

Fiberglass is a fascinating medium. It is not necessarily essential to cut-out the offending item. With planning, good cutting and heat, a panel can be moved, then reglassed.

For example, cut three sides of a square in the offensive area. Then apply lots of heat to the fourth side (be careful, the resin can catch fire). When it becomes pliable, move the panel where you want it, hold it in place until cool, then fill-in the empty space with metal or 'glass.

Offsetting the pedals also gave me lots of room for my left foot.

Good luck!

[jamesson]

You can always put in an automatic tranny.....
probably not an option, but I'll trade you my automatic for a toploader!

Cheers
Jim

[jdean]

BUT, it is an automatic. I checked with DV beforehand, and he told us that it would work if it were an automatic. It fit with no modifications quite well.

With a standard, the clutch fork would not have enough room.

If you went to a hydraulic internal throwout, then a standard might work as well.

John

[Lew Ledyard]

Is there any room to be gained in a Kirkham foot box?