Dead Pedal recommendations

[DanEC]

sI'm looking for lessons learned, recommendations, dimensions, photos, etc to help locate where to best install the dead pedal so it can be used and doesn't interfer with the clutch. I believe ERA spread my pedals slightly - I requested it - so there isn't much room between the side of the foot box and the pedal. Position is probably somewhat critical.

Or is it better to do without?

Thanks

Dan

[ERA Chas]

You will need it to brace yourself. Call Doug and get a location from him-he spread your pedals.
Do you have giant feet?

[patrickt]

Here you go... I've got 12EEE feet, pedals lightly spread, and a dead pedal that works just fine. Thank you very much.

[DanEC]

Size 12 B here. I'm not too sure my pedals aren't spread just a bit more than Patricks. Patrick - I guess your car is still cocooned for the winter - you don't happen to know how far ahead of your clutch pedal the dead pedal is set by chance?

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by DanEC

Size 12 B here. I'm not too sure my pedals aren't spread just a bit more than Patricks. Patrick - I guess your car is still cocooned for the winter - you don't happen to know how far ahead of your clutch pedal the dead pedal is set by chance?

I'm going to say maybe an inch. It's mounted for comfort, as a resting place for my left foot, and it works better than you would think.

[tkb289]

Dan,

Chas and Patrick have a lot more ERA seat time than I do, but I don't have a dead pedal in my FIA and it has not been a problem for me. I have 12B feet as well, and can wear 'regular' tennis shoes, no need for driving shoes as there is a fair amount of room in the foot box.

Not sure if the foot boxes are the same in the 427 and 289 ERAs.

- Tim

[ERA2076]

My feet are 7.5. I do not think I could drive the car without the dead pedal. We had to move the pedals as far to the seat as we could and then move the dead pedal to match. My pedal is setup so it is in the same plane as the face of the clutch pedal. I only have to slide my foot over. My pedals are still too far forward so we are going to add 1" spacers to the faces to try to move me back. We will move the dead pedal again to match the plane of the clutch pedal face. Originally we moved the pedals without moving the dead pedal which made it useless. I tried to drive without it and was cramping after a 1/2 hour because there was nowhere to put my left foot. Once we matched the dead, it became very comfortable to drive, except I am still too short.

cliff

[DanEC]

Thanks for all the replys. I need to measure where my clutch pedal is in relation to the side of the foot box. I don't think I have the over 3-1/2 inches that Patrick is showing but maybe I'm mistaken. I was afraid that if I put it close to the same plane as the clutch pedal, my foot would occassionally hang on it when moving it to depress the clutch. Doesn't sound like that has been a problem for anyone.

[DonC]

I found that wearing Puma Speed Cat shoes helps a lot with foot/pedal clearance. I'm a size 11E and they work really well. Also quite inexpensive for driving shoes that are suitable for everyday walking around but maybe not 20 mile hikes on unpaved trails.
Wouldn't think of not having the dead pedal but I probably drive a bit more than the average owner.
DonC

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Here you go... I've got 12EEE feet, pedals lightly spread, and a dead pedal that works just fine. Thank you very much.

Apparently I got the pedal set up for the 16 EEE size boots. The left edge of my pedals are 1-1/2 inches and 6 inches from the left wall versus 3-1/2 and 7 inches on your car.

[Grubby]

That will be tight for a dead pedal.

I use mine. That last ERA didn't have it and I didn't know what I was missing.

John

[fordracing65]

What is the dead pedal made of it looks just like a bent piece of metal screwed into the sidewall, am I missing something, I would like to fab one for long road trips??

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by Grubby

That will be tight for a dead pedal.

I use mine. That last ERA didn't have it and I didn't know what I was missing.

John

I'm going to give it a try. I think I will have to mount it about two to three inches in front of the clutch pedal which means I will have a pretty good bend to my leg when resting on it, but I think that will be OK.

Dan

Added a photo. I gues I can't complain about tight pedal clearance. I still have to do some adjusting to bring the brake pedal up some and adjust the pedal face on the clutch.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by fordracing65

What is the dead pedal made of it looks just like a bent piece of metal screwed into the sidewall, am I missing something, I would like to fab one for long road trips??

Here is a photo:

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by DanEC

Apparently I got the pedal set up for the 16 EEE size boots. The left edge of my pedals are 1-1/2 inches and 6 inches from the left wall versus 3-1/2 and 7 inches on your car.

How did that happen? Look, I have feet that look like Fred Flintstone's and I do fine with the spacing I have. I always wear Nike Free shoes to drive the car. I don't think putting the dead pedal "up and in front" like you suggest is going to work. I would move the pedals over a bit and I'm wondering if there aren't just spacers used on the pedal pivot shaft that might make it easy.

[DanEC]

I don't know, except I think after reading a thread on here I asked Peter for a little more room. I've found out through experience that Peter doesn't just let these things go in one ear and out the other. You can look at the clutch pedal arm and see that it's bent further over than yours. No spacers that I remember when I removed and reinstalled them. I can see that I'll probably need to replace bushings on the clutch pivot after a few years - with all that eccentric loading.

Maybe we need to swap pedals.

I figure if I'm careful installing the dead pedal over the carpet so as not to cause any pulls or big holes, I can always remove it later if it doesn't work out.

[DanEC]

Interesting to note in your footbox picture Patrick that the air vent cable is run exposed. I've been wondering if it was intended to try to tuck it partly under the carpet. I was anticipating that would not work very well. Looks like that question is also answered.