2223 Lives!

[mike]

hey folks!
i got my car running abt 2 weeks ago and have abt 1500 miles on it now.
i drove it to road america and have been just enjoying the car since.
the car has a 351/427 aluminum block, balanced, forged internals, custom cam, fuel injected, etc etc engine mated to a quaiffe.
we took our time with the build. we took the suspension apart and made sure everything was up to snuff. we dropped the fuel tanks, made many mods to fight the heat. (the car is much cooler than b4)
besides a few bugs which will be addressed soon, i am very happy.
one issue we could not fix was the very stiff throttle pedal. impossible to heel and toe. ive done a search here and looked a some fixes, but those dont seem to work. we dont have any kinks in our cable.
any suggestions?

heres a few pics from R/A

 

[Neal]

Great looking car. Are those Avon tires?

 

[mike]

Great looking car. Are those Avon tires?

the rears are, the fronts are not.
ill swap over to all avons soon enough.

 

[DaveM]

Mike,
I had to alter the spring at the pedal to make mine less stiff. You've got different intake from mine (1 Holley) so may be different.

 

[mike]

Mike,
I had to alter the spring at the pedal to make mine less stiff. You've got different intake from mine (1 Holley) so may be different.

we tried. we were able to make a slight improvement, but its still way too stiff.
were kind of at a loss at this point.

 

[Mike Christian]

you and I passed going opposite directions on one of the access roads at R/A - mine is the dark blue with grey stripes. we gave each other thumbs up as we passed. Another thumbs up on your MKII!! It looks great!

Mike

 

[Cliff Beer]

Mike, you've obviously tried reducing spring pressures I assume....?

Some cables will produce less drag through turns than others - good cable sheaths that are lined with a teflon plastic liner work well. Also, a smaller diameter cable will usually produce less drag than a larger one through the turns.

If you're totally stuck and can't get a cable solution to work you can always try one of the hydraulic systems. They work well but there's just more stuff to go wrong with a hydraulic system....

 

[mike]

you and I passed going opposite directions on one of the access roads at R/A - mine is the dark blue with grey stripes. we gave each other thumbs up as we passed. Another thumbs up on your MKII!! It looks great!

Mike

i remember!
thanks!

 

[mike]

Mike, you've obviously tried reducing spring pressures I assume....?

Some cables will produce less drag through turns than others - good cable sheaths that are lined with a teflon plastic liner work well. Also, a smaller diameter cable will usually produce less drag than a larger one through the turns.

If you're totally stuck and can't get a cable solution to work you can always try one of the hydraulic systems. They work well but there's just more stuff to go wrong with a hydraulic system....

ill look into different cables....thanks

 

[Richard]

Mike, did you see this thread?

http://www.gt40s.com/forum/superformance-gt40s/27012-how-do-you-fix-stiff-throttle-pedal.html

 

[mike]

Mike, did you see this thread?

http://www.gt40s.com/forum/superformance-gt40s/27012-how-do-you-fix-stiff-throttle-pedal.html

i did.
my installer said there was nothing to adjust and felt it was more design related.
hmmmmm.
thanks though.

 

[Mike Drew]

FWIW, I drove two SPF cars over the weekend; Kirby Schrader's car had a perfectly normal throttle pedal, while Daryl Adams car had the stiff pedal that so many have complained about.

We never did get around to comparing notes to try to see what the difference might have been?

 

[Kirby Schrader]

I am using the stock SPF throttle cable that comes with the car, but I have cut the end off of it and connected it to the EFI linkage. This linkage is progressive; i.e., it pulls easily and slowly at the beginning and then pulls harder and faster at the end. Probably why you think it is 'normal'.

FWIW,
Kirby

FWIW, I drove two SPF cars over the weekend; Kirby Schrader's car had a perfectly normal throttle pedal, while Daryl Adams car had the stiff pedal that so many have complained about.

We never did get around to comparing notes to try to see what the difference might have been?

 

[mike]

FWIW, I drove two SPF cars over the weekend; Kirby Schrader's car had a perfectly normal throttle pedal, while Daryl Adams car had the stiff pedal that so many have complained about.

We never did get around to comparing notes to try to see what the difference might have been?

yeah, id like to see pics too....
cripes, this isnt rocket science, its a throttle pedal and im stumped..)

 

[Richard]

Mike, I would start by disconnecting any and all springs in the system (the ones on the carb/s and the one under the dash). At this point the pedal should drop to the full throttle position. If it does you may just have to much spring pressure so start reducing the overall spring tension to see if that helps. Also with the springs still removed and you at the engine and the cable disconnected from the carburetion (the throttle should have dropped to the floor) pull on the throttle cable, without my carburetor hooked up I am able to pull the throttle pedal off the floor and back to idle without a lot of effort. If this is very hard to do then you will have to figure out if it’s a bad cable or the throttle pivot.

If all of that is in good shape check to see how hard it is to work your entire 8 stack system. If it seems hard try disconnecting one set of throttle bodies at a time to see if one or more of them are sticky.

Please post what you find as it will help all of us. Good luck.

 

[mike]

Mike, I would start by disconnecting any and all springs in the system (the ones on the carb/s and the one under the dash). At this point the pedal should drop to the full throttle position. If it does you may just have to much spring pressure so start reducing the overall spring tension to see if that helps. Also with the springs still removed and you at the engine and the cable disconnected from the carburetion (the throttle should have dropped to the floor) pull on the throttle cable, without my carburetor hooked up I am able to pull the throttle pedal off the floor and back to idle without a lot of effort. If this is very hard to do then you will have to figure out if it’s a bad cable or the throttle pivot.

If all of that is in good shape check to see how hard it is to work your entire 8 stack system. If it seems hard try disconnecting one set of throttle bodies at a time to see if one or more of them are sticky.

Please post what you find as it will help all of us. Good luck.

thanks richard, i will try this and post back when i do.

 

[mike]

ok, regarding the throttle pedal.....
after inspecting the cable, etc, my conclusion is that it takes that much more effort to open the 8 throttle bodies in the fuel injection unit itself.
even when worked by hand it takes the same pressure as i exert on the pedal.
true, you get used to a stiffer pedal, but it makes heel and toe shifting about impossible. that takes away a lot of fun for me.
anyway, i didnt see a spring mechanism on the fuel injection unit so i called al from thor motorsports. i purchased the FI from him and his after sale service has been excellent.
he said he believed each throttle body has a spring on it but wasnt sure exactly how or where. he promised to get back to me.
anyone else have fuel injection experience stiff throttle pedal and it wasnt the cable?
ill post back when i have something more to add.
thanks

 

[Rich E.]

Control Cables Inc.

I had the same "stiff throttle" problem. These guys solved it by making a new cable. It's not the springs its the resistance from tight bends, internal cable lining, and potential rust residue from storage and the trip over in a damp container. IMO

BTW, stay away from the hydraulic systems. They are NOT designed for the heat in our engine bays.

Rich E.

 

[Jack Houpe]

ok, regarding the throttle pedal.....
after inspecting the cable, etc, my conclusion is that it takes that much more effort to open the 8 throttle bodies in the fuel injection unit itself.
even when worked by hand it takes the same pressure as i exert on the pedal.
true, you get used to a stiffer pedal, but it makes heel and toe shifting about impossible. that takes away a lot of fun for me.
anyway, i didnt see a spring mechanism on the fuel injection unit so i called al from thor motorsports. i purchased the FI from him and his after sale service has been excellent.
he said he believed each throttle body has a spring on it but wasnt sure exactly how or where. he promised to get back to me.
anyone else have fuel injection experience stiff throttle pedal and it wasnt the cable?
ill post back when i have something more to add.
thanks

I had a problem, it was the clevis on the cable hook up point at the pedal area, the nut was so tight that the clevis would not swing and it cut through many of the cable treads. I replaced the cable with a stainless steel bicycle brake cable. We have the same fuel injection, you might check that the return spring on the pedal is not the wrong size, (to big)that would cause stiff pedal.

If you ever want a set of clear lexan air cleaners let me know I have a used set. I like your P number, its eazy to remember.

 

[Richard]

Not that I've ever done anything so stupid as pulling my cable back so far that I would lose the end. But if someone were to do that how do you re-thread it? The end was kind of mangled so I can't just push it back through.