View Full Version : Pedal box ideas?
Ordered base kit. We are going with automatic. So my question is, does anyone have a good idea for the pedal box? We will also be using Russ's gas pedal, so this just leaves the brakes. I would love to use the wilwood double masters. I am just not sure if i can buy a setup like that just for brakes? Any other options you guys can think about?
Jacob McCrea
01-21-2013, 02:46 PM
Wilwood does make a single brake pedal with the balance bar setup. From the looks of it on their website you would have to do a little fabricating to make the outside edge bolt up properly. An easier solution would be to just use the 2-pedal Wilwood box and remove the clutch pedal, etc. I have a Forte's pedal box mount which I did not use and will sell for a nominal price if you are interested.
michael everson
01-21-2013, 05:44 PM
I have a Auto Pedal box from the Mustang in stock. Its very similar to the Standard, but no clutch stuff. I can give you a great deal on one.
Let me know if you are interested.
Mike
FFinisher
01-21-2013, 06:12 PM
I have a Auto Pedal box from the Mustang in stock. Its very similar to the Standard, but no clutch stuff. I can give you a great deal on one.
Let me know if you are interested.
Mike
Do it this way, the mustang pedal box and master is a better way to go for sure.
but doesnt the master stick out of the pedal box with that config? Plus i would need to add a valve to adjust bias?
FFinisher
01-21-2013, 09:37 PM
yes, and maybe, still better in my opinion.
tcoon
01-22-2013, 01:26 AM
Why not just use the Wilwood box with the kit and take out the clutch pedal? Its really easy to take out the retaining clips and just slide out the axle so the clutch pedal can come out. You could put a bigger pad on it if you wanted one...
michael everson
01-22-2013, 05:58 AM
You should really consider power brakes on this build. They are very easy to install. With your Wife driving it, you wont regret it. The Coupe I am building now has power brakes. All that is required is a Mustang pedal box, and a brake booster from a 87-93 Mustang. Well worth the effort. All of my builds get power brakes now.
Mike
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s140/michaeleverson/FFR%20Coupe/DSC05306.jpg
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s140/michaeleverson/FFR%20Coupe/DSC05312.jpg
tirod
01-22-2013, 09:10 AM
Power brakes get recommended a lot, but the originals didn't need them, and neither did millions of other small cars built in the day.
The issue is using a brake pedal assembly with the proper leverage ratio for a manual master cylinder. Too many donor builds use the pedals that came with the Mustang - and it had power brakes. It doesn't have enough leverage because the booster took care of the difference.
Another facet of this is that the donor brakes don't have enough capacity at the rear. They use single piston calipers with tiny pads. Take a long look at the weight bias of cars and compare your build with those that share the same 50/50 ratio, you'll see dual piston calipers in the rear. The Corvettes come to mind.
With the right ratio pedal and sufficient brake capacity distributed for the car, power then becomes a more optional issue, not a necessity. Hydroboost is also an option if power steering was considered, which would reduce some of the space demands of a big vacuum booster at the foot well.
Dual master cylinders for the brakes are typical on track cars because of the adjustable bias bar - it can be fine tuned more easily than a proportioning valve plumbed in somewhere, especially if you add a hinged hatch to the footwell. That is justified regardless for service issues. Another option for the dual masters is a cable operated wheel mounted in the cabin, to allow you to adjust brake bias literally on the road. Endurance track racers use them to compensate for varying fuel levels. 200 pounds added or consumed changes the brake bias - enough that a lot of minivans have proportioning valves installed to compensate for extra passengers in the rear. They are connected to the suspension and react to the load. It's apparently more than just a finesse issue.
Lay out what you need and spec the associated parts to match - power pedal ratio for power, manual for manual. The fact there are two different pedals ones when the factory could have used one and kept the profit should speak for itself.
we ordered the base kit and it does not include the wilwood box. I was just looking for other options, but it looks like i will just need to order one up.
As far as power brakes go. We did the wilwood upgrade on the roadster with manual brakes and they are excellent. Barely any effort to stop. Just as good if not better then our daily drivers. So i just dont see a need to mount that stuff in front of the foot box. We like to try and keep it as clean as possible. We also ordered Gordons brakes for the coupe. They are supposed to be even better then the FF setup.
Rodster
01-22-2013, 11:08 AM
Mike -
I was going to suggest bigger brakes for your (Julie's) car - since you will have more power. I went with the complete kit brakes and pedal box from Wilwood... my car will get a 302 with T5z. . . . Chris has an excellent photo series on the Wilwood pedal box (and other stuff), here is a link if you don't have it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51103049@N00/collections/72157624552099415/
This is very useful because the manual leaves this whole section out!
If you want to see any parts feel free to come over, or ask for some pictures......
-wayne
WAYNE, thats a good link. thanks!
We will need to get together soon.
Rodster
01-25-2013, 10:56 PM
WAYNE, thats a good link. thanks!
We will need to get together soon.
Mike -
Yup..... you and Julie can come over and help me build... the engine and trans (302, T5z, Atomic EFI) is shipping next week, and my chassis is no where near ready. ...
wayne
CraigS
02-09-2013, 05:41 PM
Since you already have the wilwood calipers maybe the easiest is just to do the FFR wilwood pedal setup and remove the clutch. Thee is some type of clutch pedal upgrade now that fixes a previous pedal breakage problem. So you just ditch it and the problem too. I would definately go w/ dual MCs w/ a balance bar. For people that haven't messed w/ getting the front to rear balance correct it may be hard to appreciate what it does for the car.Nothing helps more than getting rear brakes that actually work.
Thats what we are going to do. The new wilwood pedal box has new pedals that are much thicker with webbing. Just recieved the brackets today for it. Thanks Jacob!