[Brian in VA]

OK, so not the bent pedal bellcrank that catches the cutout near the pedal. That all looks fine.
The linkage at the tranny looks ok.
The throttle return springs are new and fine. In fact, when the car is off, the throttle is all the way down like it should be at idle.
The cruise cable's plastic housing is broken. I was wondering if maybe I accidentally turned it out (not aware that it actually worked) so I turned it off, started it for a half second and it revved up again.

If the linkage is catching up somewhere enough to rev that high shouldn't I see it pulling the throttle linkage at the engine down, even if not running? Unless it is hanging up on the clutch cable, and then I press it in and it pulls the throttle down too. I'll have to push in on the clutch and see if that moves. Otherwise I'm thinking for now I'll pull the cruise relay and maybe cut that wire that goes to the throttle linkage since I don't care about cruise / don't know if it works / want to get it home out of the rain. Otherwise, flat bedding it to the house.