Hey DV (Brake help)

[petek]

Hey DV,

Thanks for the offer of help. Here is a couple of pictures of the pedals in my Cobra. Did I pick the correct mounting hole for the brake pedal?





thanks!
petek

[petek]

Well DV, I beat you to it ... I think.

The picture of the pedal assembly in the manual looks like the hole I used for the brake pedal is the correct hole.

Next on the list is the master cylinder and the booster.

petek

[petek]

Well darn! I went back and read a couple of threads here at the club and found one that noted that the pedal shouldn't go past 90 degrees during it's throw.

Sure looks like where I've got the pedal mounted will cause the pedal to quickly pass 90 degrees.

CR owners... help ... did I use the correct mounting hole or do I need to move the pivot mount to the rear hole?

thanks!

petek

[CobraEd]

Mine is in the same hole as yours and the braking is pretty marginal. I have been too lazy to take it all apart and move it.

In a tech article by one of the aftermarket performance brake manufacturers, they recommend never going past 90 degrees or the braking force drops of dramaticaly. Unfortunatly, I can substantiate this.

Ed

[Fred]

Pete, Ed,
After finishing my CR Cobra, I was very disappointed with the brake pedal. I disconnected the brake pedal and moved the arm around until it was where I wanted it. Marked the location where the holes should have been, removed the entire assembley from the car and drilled new holes.

Fred

[petek]

Well I gotta have better braking ... so, Fred, how far in did you move the holes?

petek

[flipper0007]

I used the rear hole. The top hole nearer to the firewall and my brakes work fine. Also just wanted to thank you for your build site, it helped alot as i was building my cobra. Good luck!

[dscott]

petec, Use the hole closest to the firewall (rear hole). If the pedal is placed in the front hole the pedal is to low for proper braking. I have always used the same configuration on all the cars I build and the brakes work great. I don't know what the other hole is for, it should be eliminated.
Don

[CobraEd]

This really "steams my clams". Why would they put that hole there and why would the builder of my car use it!!! One of these days I'm going to take the whole thing appart and fix it. The job looks like a big pain in the ass.

Ed

[petek]

Don, Flipper,

I'll move to the rear holes (tonight if it's cool enough out). I'll let you know how it turns out!

Ed,
Four nylocks for the booster, two for the forward plate, a clutch linkage, a brake linkage, and a throttle linkage. Say an hour to remove, 15 minutes to relocate the pedal pivot, and an hour to re-install. (In my dreams!)

thanks,
petek

[petek]

I got the pedal assembly out last night and relocated the pivot point for the brake pedal ... all in about an hour. I should have it re-installed sometime tonight or tomorrow and I'll let everyone know if it improved the brakes.

thanks again everyone,
petek

[Fred]

Pete,

I will crawl under the steering wheel tonight and measure where I drilled the new holes.

Fred

[petek]

Quick update: it took about 2 hours all told, but I was able to pull the pedal assembly out, relocate the pivot point for the brake pedal, and re-install everything without resorting to language that would make a sailor proud.

The brake pedal is higher than before and offers significantly better lever action. I'm going to need to adjust the accelerator pedal up a bit to match the height of the brake pedal.

I haven't had a chance to try out the brakes with the new pedal arrangement; perhaps this weekend. I'll let everyone know.

petek

[dscott]

petek, I'm glad the change worked. You may want to think about moving your gas pedal. It should be lower than your brake. You want the lowest pressed position of the brake pedal to be higher than the gas. This is because if your foot ever slips there is less of a chance of hitting the accelerator. I have had 2 customers that built there own cars hit both the brake and the gas at the same time under panic conditions which makes the car hard to stop. The first wrecked his car to the tune of $22,000, the second was lucky. Both had the accelerator at the same height as the brake. Check out your daily drivers and see how much lower the accelerator is than the brake. Just food for thought.
Don

[petek]

dscott,

Great minds think alike!

I had already relocated the accelerator pedal, spacing it below the brake pedal, so that I could toe-and-heel downshift.

What did I use for confirmation of the difference in height between the two pedals? My Neon! I've found the pedal spacing in the Neon fits my size 12 feet pretty darn good ... so I'm trying to duplicate the pedal arrangement in the Cobra.

Right now the accelerator pedal is substantially lower than the brake pedal; I need to raise the accelerator up maybe an inch.

Thanks again for the suggestions!!!!

petek

[petek]

Thanks dscott! The relocated pivot point on the brake pedal makes all the difference in the world!

I took my Cobra out for a short spin ... up and down the driveway ... uh, "brisk" acceleration followed by oh sh*t braking. The brakes work like a champ.

I also have a new found respect for anyone who can briskly accelerate a Cobra without spinning the tires! I wonder if my wife will notice the rubber left on the driveway when she gets home tonight.

thanks again,
petek

[dscott]

petek, I'm glad everything worked out ok. It's nice to know you can stop. It's kinda like my 1st Jeep CJ . It would go like crazy in the snow but I always seemed to forget I had to stop in the snow also.
Don