Brake Pedal Height Issues

[Fran Blacker]

hsorman fix is good as long as you have a good weld, I see no problem with it. Another option to lengthen it with a sleeve so the pins go inside a sleeve. Where I worked they had a large selection of thin wall hydraulic tube (.020 appox). Inside a sleeve would take stress off weld. You could make your own ? My car is a work in? progress, slooow progress.

 

[BS23]

For what it is worth, I have put 6000 miles on my car with that revised rod with absolutely no issues. I am not sure that there is anything "precision" about the rod though. Trust me, I am big on safety stuff. I would like to be around many more years, so I want stuff right, especially things that can make the car unsafe. The big deal with that rod is that you don't want it to break (as opposed to brake!) under pressure. So as long as the weld can withstand the maximum couple of hundred pounds of pressure that you leg can exert, then you are fine. Any competent welder should be able to weld that up very easily and that rod will guaranteed not break. The much more flimsy factory metal assembly that holds the entire pedal assembly would break before that rod did.

So the bottom line is: I wouldn't fret too much about it. Cut it and get it welded. It's not that big a deal as long as the welds penetrate. Then you have a brake pedal that sits and works like it is supposed to.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Hawk

Hawk, your original posts and photos were great, my hats off to you. You did do an excellent job extending and welding up the push rod. As you stated, I also didn't want to start hacking up the brake linkage not knowing if there was a specific reason or just an over site. Just having a little cabin fever over the winter. Like Cranky stated, just modify what you have and be done with it ! Through the years I went back and forth from power to manual brake setups and sourcing the right parts. I didn't care much to buy the adjustable rods and linkages available. Below is another great guy and reference to OEM brake parts and specs.
http://www.brewersperformance.com/products.asp?cat=279

 

[BS23]

hsorman fix is good as long as you have a good weld, I see no problem with it. Another option to lengthen it with a sleeve so the pins go inside a sleeve. Where I worked they had a large selection of thin wall hydraulic tube (.020 appox). Inside a sleeve would take stress off weld. You could make your own ? My car is a work in? progress, slooow progress.
View attachment 392449

Cars looking good, pedals correct ! The boom mat is definitely a worthwhile upgrade !!

 

[VitaMeVas]

I just did a front disc conversion and added a brake booster via Dr Diff. Ran into the same problem and found a solution for my 1968 Base Satellite. Here's a pic of the problem. The pedal no longer reaches the brake light switch to turn off the rear brake lights.

 

[VitaMeVas]

This is how to adjust the bracket that the brake light switch is mounted in. Pic 1 shows it held in the manual brake location. **I disconnected the wires b/c they were in the way of the photo** Pic 2 shows it held in the power brake location. Pic 3 shows what it looks like with the bracket removed. The top 2 slots are for manual and the bottom 2 slots are for power booster assist with less pedal travel (ie lower pedal). In either location, the bolt can be adjusted to slide the switch closer to or further from the pedal assembly.

 

[VitaMeVas]

I was able to adjust the brake light switch bracket close to the pedal assembly, but there was still a little gap. I took a rubber vacuum plug (bag shown) and cut the length of it off to create a little cap (see plug before/after lying under bag). Lastly, here's the whole thing back together and working fine. Hope this helps someone!

 

[retractable]

On My 64 Belvedere I have found two different brake peddles on some parts cars I scrapped. The PB cars have a longer arm on the peddle and it attaches higher in the bracket.

 

[Charger69S]

Hawk....... back in the 80's, i found what i thought was a brake booster for my gtx in a big car, similar to an imperial i think....... it looked exactly the same......... but i found the rod coming out of the back side was the wrong length, and i cut/welded it to the proper length.......... i cant remember exactly, but it appears i had to shorten the rod........ a shorter rod will raise the pedal ( i think?)........... here is a pic of that booster with the welded end on the rod. and a booster i have on the shelf......... holding a tape measure to the back of the booster it measures 3 1/4 maybe 3 3/8 to the center of the bolt hole............. check your rod for length

- - - Updated - - -

after looking at the diagram, maybe i made it longer? ...... either way, it was wrong and i made to to the length of my original booster...........1986 was a long time ago

Would you be interested in selling that rod that comes out of the booster? I am in the same situation?