I swear this car is going to kill me before I get it on the road!

As per previous posts I have a buggy with an early type 1 pan (SWB), which was all but ready for rego when I broke the clutch hook off the pedal assembly. On the weekend I locally acquired another set of pedals (brake, clutch, and the arm assembly for the accelerator) and started to change it over last night.

The pedals are identical to the ones I took off (bar this set has a clutch hook!) as I checked them thoroughly. I had some fiddly bits working the connection to the accelerator arm / cable but got there OK, although not happy with it. Brake spring is a bit painful too but it will do to get through rego.

Where things did go wrong was when installing the accelerator pedal to the controlling arm. Those people that know the area, know that on the back of the pedal is a connection to a shaped steel piece, that connects to the long arm that runs through the pedals and tunnel to the cable setup.

I connected it all the same way as I took it off and the new pieces are the same sizes, etc. However, now that its all back together, the accelerator pedal (when pressed) only marginally moves the arm (and cable) before the arms basically move underneath eachother and cease to move anymore. I get probably not even 1cm travel in the cable and thats it!

The arms in question (small one off the pedal, and the large one travelling through the tunnel) basically bow downwards, rather than pushing the large one forward, thus moving the cable.

I have booked this car in for rego on Friday and can't believe that one problem constantly leads to two additional problems. Can anyone help me with what I have done with these linkages and how I can remedy it?

Thanks....

Just a guess. But you could try loosening the bolts that hold the pedal assembly to the floor and twist the pedals so that the accelerator arm is further forward.

phantom
Remove the two bolts and remove the cover on the passenger side of the tunnel. Put them back in with the cover off.
Now watch the operating arm (its connected to the cable) of the accelerator as you depress the pedal. Is the operating arm against the stop on the plate (the bit thats still held by the two bolts you just put back in) or is it getting caught?
If you are not getting full travel - is the rod that goes through the pedal assembly free? Remove the accelerator cable to test.
If the rod is free and you setup looks OK, then the angle of the rod may be incorrect and it may need a twist ie forwards on the passenger side while backwards on the drivers side.
hope this helps

Volkswagens can be hard to work on ...

as We ALL no doubt know....

I would also suggest getting a VW Mechanic to fix it....

probably take a few minutes....

a NON VW Mechanic it may take an hour??

Best of luck

Lee

i had a similar issue with mine.........trying to remember what happened ...a few things to look at...like old dubber said leave the cover of the passenger side and check the movement, can't remember exactly but on mine something to do with the tab that limits travel, anyway it was obvious i remember when trying with the cover of.
another time the pedal wasn't sitting on the roller in the right place, it too was obvious....once i thought to look
a third time there was an issue with travel, after taking it all apart to clean and lubricate and replace the cable...the flexible tube between tunnel and fan shroud accelerator cable tube had become unseated at one end....slipped it back over the protruding steel tube and all was well....
good luck

oh yeah....i wouldn't try twisting the rod
in my experience most stuff fits and works without forcing anything
a bent rod will stilll give more than a cm of travel
sounds like a misfit or oversite somewhere

Yeah, thanks to all. The problem is actually at the pedal side, the cable and arm are moving freely and like they should. Its the pedal setup that is playing up.

I don't have the roller as its the older type, just a few linking arms. Have since talked to the mechanic and there is apparently an art to moving the pedals around to get the right position. Fingers crossed I can get some decent weather and work on it tonight.

Thanks to all for the replies, I'll see how I go. Currently I will keep working at it without bringing the mechanic into play, as he has a 3wk waiting list and I can't currently afford his fees plus a minimum of $120 towtruck charges (as well as the time off work to do same). When you have all the parts in front of you, and this is the only thing between the car and rego, I reckon I'll persevere. Whether I get it done is yet to be seen. Thanks again.