GAS PEDAL / THROTTLE
The old gas-pedal assembly was functional, but not a great design. Just one more item on the team’s list to be addressed during the rebuild. The old design had its moving parts in the engine compartment. Dave wanted to move the pivot inside the driver’s compartment to keep it away from dirt, plus moving it would clean up the firewall.
Dave bends the 1/2-inch tubing to make a “pull back” for the throttle pedal rod made of 3/8-inch chromoly bar stock. The pull back is operated by the top of the driver’s toes if there’s a return-spring failure. Dave welded it to the throttle-pedal assembly. Then he built a hinge block out of two blocks of aluminum. He machined a grease reservoir in the middle of the block, and added a grease fitting to keep the accelerator lubricated. The throttle pivot block is mounted to a reinforced 3/16-inch plate welded to the cage bar above the pedals. This placement allows the throttle rod to stick out through the side panel in the firewall.
Dave checks the fitment and operation of the accelerator pedal. He will add a linkage mounting tab to the tip of the throttle rod. A solid throttle rod is preferred over relying on a cable that could break, plus, a solid pedal will give faster throttle response.
The team installs dual springs on the Land Speed and Road Race setups. The second spring is a cheap insurance policy. When — not if — one spring breaks, the second spring should keep the throttle from sticking open and causing a problem. Tim built the return-spring pivot block on the naturally aspirated throttle-body linkage. Making it wide allows the springs to operate independently. The top of the throttle rod sticking through the firewall has multiple holes so the linkage between the pedal and throttle body can be adjusted for optimum articulation for different engine combinations in the future.