Porsche meets Schwinn

[Jerome74911S]

Okay, so maybe this is fluff or a kludge, but I was happy with a simple little solution to what I expect is a common problem. As you see in the first picture, the floorboards from my '74 are way beyond needing to be replaced, and the second picture illustrates that the clutch pedal stopper also has been long dead. I've had the car less than nine months and the car was put up over the winter, so I have haven't driven it much yet. But the POs have hammered the rubber stopper into oblivion and the clip that held the stopper is seriously mashed to junk. You need this hardware when changing your floorboard. Our host sells replacement rubber stoppers, but the shape looks different from what I imagine might have been in place in my car, plus I have no faith that my clip can be resurrected. So I drilled out the spot welds and removed the remains of the forlorn clip.








Here is where the Schwinn bicycle company comes to the rescue. It occurred to me that an old fashioned bicycle brake shoe is just about the same size, shape, and construction as the car's clutch pedal stopper pad. So, I ground off the central mounting bolt from a bike brake shoe and drilled holes in it where the spot welds had been in the main bracket on the floorboard. A couple self-tapping screws and the brake shoe was attached - I mounted the result on my fancy new Rennline floorboard. I'll adjust the position when the floorboard is in the car.








The brake shoe is made of fiber-infused hard rubber and should hold up well. Am I making a mistake?


Jerome

[pete3799]

Funny you should post this as i just did the same thing to mine only i just cut a strip of heavy rubber and slipped it into the clip. My clip wasn't as beat-up as yours.

[RWebb]

nice!

[herr_oberst]

If you really wanted it to be trick you could have used a Kool Stop pad.

(joking. that is a seriously good idea - the only thing I'd be worried about it the thickness of the pad, and are you going to have enough adjustment, but I'm sure you do.)

[Jerome74911S]

I thoroughly photographed the position of the old stopper before removing it, and this new one will move into that position easily. The question is, was the old one positioned properly? I'll have to measure to get it all correct, but I hope it will be close enough as is to drive around a little first.



Jerome

[DRACO A5OG]

Please forgive for bringing up this old thread.

So I don't get why this CLUTCH PEDAL STOPPER is such a POS. I mean, you can literally bend it with your fingers and forget about it, if you have a sudden clutch play and smash the pedal down with your foot.

What worries me the most is when the rubber pops off, mount is crushed and the plate is bent, The clutch goes beyond the 25.0 MM throw and puts severe stress on the pressure plate fingers & fork.

Has no one developed a better stopper besides putting a bike brake pad in it's place of the rubber stopper?

I think I will place an aluminum plate/support of sorts behind the stopper plate to help keep it from flexing at a minimum. It should look stealth with some flush mount screws.

[juanbenae]

I used one of those for one race weekend before S-canning it. the flimsy nature of it did not work for the throttle stop. it flexed enough that the throttle went past the stop local causing linkage to bend and get hung up on the tunnel resulting in a stuck WFO throttle at the end of the front straight at sears point. cost me a Saturday race, but could have been more fir sure.

[DRACO A5OG]

Oh my goodness, what a nightmare!

I was thinking this thru and realized no amount of reinforcing the stopper is going to help since it will ultimately flex in the end being that it is bolted on to a piece of wood off center.

I think a rigid top plate on is the key to help the rigidity of the wood and help give the pedal another stopper source vs a flimsy piece of sheet metal.

[javadog]

I must operate my pedals with a little more finesse than you guys because I've never had a problem with one in more than 35 years of driving these things. I've never even worn out one of the rubber pieces. How is it that you put that much stress on these things?

JR

[DRACO A5OG]

Just call me a BRUTE!

Oh I am learning, that our babies are more delicate than they really are, well in some cases at least. :-o

But in an emergency situation and a bit of panic. I automatically push in the clutch, unfortunately I will tend to push a bit too hard.

For me, I think my stopper was not straight, sitting on an angle, every time pedal arm touched, it would slowly push the rubber part out and as a result, no rubber stop then smashy goes the tin holder.

[realgren]

You're right Draco, they are pretty crappy from the factory.

[CCM911]

Our Canadian neighbors are so resourceful! Great job.

[Tippy]

I wouldn't worry about damaging the pressure plate, the fingers barely move. Another 0.010" of travel won't hurt or shorten it's life.

[matt930s]

You should now stick a baseball card between the spokes with a clothesclip...

MattR

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Tippy

I wouldn't worry about damaging the pressure plate, the fingers barely move. Another 0.010" of travel won't hurt or shorten it's life.

Thats right. Those circular grooves are supposed to be there, and besides, getting stranded without gears, and changing a cracked clutch fork can be loads of entertainment