[Squidward]

Hey all,

My current factory throttle rod/gas pedal setup has worn out its welcome. The angle of the rod and how it attaches to the throttle shaft bracket on my FiTech is wrong, and has a horrible pedal operation.

I am going to convert it to a 68+ cable pedal setup. I have an aftermarket cable and bracket, and I am free from the bonds of looking original.

Question(s)...

1. Does the 68+ cable style pedal bolt up to the firewall in place of the 67 rod style pedal? Does it need additional brackets or adapters?

I am looking at something like this...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/19523270034...T83BpKkX4BTLk4

Looks to be a 6 cyl version, and I have seen something similar for Camaro 6 cyl and cross ram.

2. Has anyone done this before? As I am seeing it, it looks like I take out old 67 pedal, bolt up new pedal, drill hole in firewall for cable, hook up, and go.

I have no interest in the expensive billet stuff.

Thanks!

[Squidward]

Started installing pedal last night.

What I realized during disassembly was that I am sometimes my own worst enemy. Initial problem was poor angle of the throttle rod to the throttle lever, and I was baffled why one FiTech unit to another would fit so differently. Well... 67 throttle rods have bends in them to fix that geometry.

Fact: it makes it absolutely worse to install the rod upside down. Stupid. But I hated the rod anyways, so I moved on after some headbanging into a wall. So it turns out that I created the problem


The replacement pedal has a plastic bracket, but the factory pedal unit is a thick beefy piece with plastic bushings and a metal bracket. The replacement pedal is thinner in diameter than the factory, so it SWIMS in the factory metal bracket. The hole for the cable was already in the firewall, and fit perfect for the universal cable feed through.

The only problem is that the cable pull arm on the pedal shaft is not aligned well with the cable. I need to bend the cable arm to align more in front of the cable hole. It's off by an inch or more.

If someone wanted to do this on the cheap, they could weld a cable pull arm onto a factory pedal shaft, and just remove the throttle arm on the engine side.

[Squidward]

After some bending tweaks to the cable arm, I got everything lined up. I am satisfied with the install, with ONE EXCEPTION:
The pedal rod support bracket that screws into the firewall is plastic. Apparently the OEM part was also plastic? It flexes substantially. My 67 bracket is durable steel, but a different shaft diameter.

I was able to find a metal bracket from Jegs, so when that gets here I will be back at this.

Parts so far:
Pedal assembly
https://www.ebay.com/itm/195232700347

Throttle bracket
https://a.co/d/hECSn4W

Throttle cable
https://a.co/d/2pZAkjI

Metal bracket from Jegs
https://a.co/d/8ffQlgZ

[Squidward]

Install complete. I installed the metal support bracket to replace the plastic one. The metal bracket tube DID require a tiny bit of clearancing with a drill, but I expected that from reading the reviews.

Unfortunately, the cable arm was no longer aligned with the cable sheath and required close to an inch of adjustment to line the cable up properly.

Driving was mostly positive.
The metal bracket got rid of a lot of flexing slop.
Pedal response with a rod setup is the tightest, but this cable setup has a little bit of dampening that makes it less likely to overshoot or undershoot a desire throttle position. So that's a positive.
I now have more firewall space to clean up wiring back at the firewall.

[Squidward]

Another update: I realized I am getting only 70% throttle opening. I did all of the cable length adjusting I could, and that's all the range of motion the pedal can give for now. I am going to go back to a throttle lever hole that is a shorter radius from the throttle body shaft. I will get more throttle shaft movement for less pedal input, but the pedal will be a heavier push. We'll see.

[Squidward]

My cable attaches at the hole indicated by the green arrow. I am going to put it in the hole where this throttle actuator is attached. Btw, not my pic, just using for reference.

[tjdjr]

there was a company called Shiftworks I believe and they had conversion kits for this. i don't know if they are still in business anymore. Tom D.

[Squidward]

Originally Posted by tjdjr

there was a company called Shiftworks I believe and they had conversion kits for this. i don't know if they are still in business anymore. Tom D.

I saw a few vendors out there that had a factory style pedal/cable/bracket kit. Same pedal as I got, but I kinda wanted the aftermarket cable and bracket. That is why I went a la carte.

I didn't see anything on the Shiftworks site, but I truly appreciate your suggestion. I will eventually make this setup submit to my commands, but for now I am just sorting out some bugs. I actually thought it would be a little more plug n play, at least the pedal part.

[Squidward]

Well, live and learn. Cable conversion did not go so well. Pedal angle is off, and too close to the brake pad. I still wasn't getting full open, only about 82%. The cable is frayed, and it is sawing a groove in the firewall feedthru.

Going back to the stock setup. I will attack it by getting the best rod angle and attachment to the throttle shaft bracket.

[jwcfbd]

sorry that it didn't work out. I've thought about getting a lokar setup but haven't done anything with it. I wonder if their cable would offer any help.?

[tanksteve]

this was an interesting project. Actually me and my friends have had so much trouble with the 68 cable actuated pedal and plastic mount that we have retrofitted the 67 all metal pedal assembly and rods to 68. The only complication was to make sure to get the V8 version of actuating lever and accompanying carb rod. I would assume you had to drill a hole for the cable entry?

[Squidward]

Originally Posted by tanksteve

this was an interesting project. Actually me and my friends have had so much trouble with the 68 cable actuated pedal and plastic mount that we have retrofitted the 67 all metal pedal assembly and rods to 68. The only complication was to make sure to get the V8 version of actuating lever and accompanying carb rod. I would assume you had to drill a hole for the cable entry?

Actually, no drill. There is a hole that accommodates the cable, which I assume was for the six cylinder configs that used a cable. It didn't line up perfect, so I had to bend the pedal cable arm to fit.

Yeah. This adventure didn't work out. Got the factory setup back in, got the rod installed CORRECTLY, not upside down. Replaced the rear grommet/bushing on the pedal lever, and enlarged a hole on the throttle bracket to 1/4" so it fits the throttle rod.

All is awesome, I have easy 100% throttle opening. I actually need a light return spring to stiffen it up just a touch.

Lesson learned. I now have some extra parts I will never use.

Sitting in my bird while I update this. Life is good, onto the next one.

[PontiacHO]

Originally Posted by tanksteve

this was an interesting project. Actually me and my friends have had so much trouble with the 68 cable actuated pedal and plastic mount that we have retrofitted the 67 all metal pedal assembly and rods to 68. The only complication was to make sure to get the V8 version of actuating lever and accompanying carb rod. I would assume you had to drill a hole for the cable entry?

Interested in your conversion. Any photos?

[Squidward]

Originally Posted by tanksteve

this was an interesting project. Actually me and my friends have had so much trouble with the 68 cable actuated pedal and plastic mount that we have retrofitted the 67 all metal pedal assembly and rods to 68. The only complication was to make sure to get the V8 version of actuating lever and accompanying carb rod. I would assume you had to drill a hole for the cable entry?

And yes, that plastic mount is trash!

As far as rods go, this one would fit, but would require some bending to match original.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FKGT6Q5F...fed_asin_title

Hmmm... So I'm seeing about $30 for the pedal rod, about $30 for the throttle arm, around $30 for the pedal rod support (steel, not plastic, bushings included), $12 for the diy rod above, and $15 for the throttle arm bushing/grommet. So make it a round $120 to convert to rod setup when using your existing pedal pad?

I think I spent just under that for my failed cable experiment.

[HoovDaddy]

Originally Posted by jwcfbd

sorry that it didn't work out. I've thought about getting a lokar setup but haven't done anything with it. I wonder if their cable would offer any help.?

I did the Lokar pedal and cable in my '69. Very nice quality, solid feel, no play. Fully adjustable. Mine is a Texas/Nevada car, the plastic firewall mount was toast.

[tanksteve]

there are two different throttle levers for 67, need to use the V8 version and not the 6 cylinder version. I plugged the hole for the 68 accelerator cable, 67 won't have that hole.

[Squidward]

Steve, I used to run my throttle rod in the hole you have it in. But I found that it made the pedal kinda stiff and touchy. That's why I wanted to go farther up, so I drilled out the hole above it, see the green arrow I added/attached to your original pic. My factory pedal setup had plenty of throw left for the slight increase in pedal travel needed.

I laugh at myself when I think this whole thing for me got started because I installed the rod upside down when I switched from one FiTech unit to a different one. I was baffled how my pedal feel was so horrible.

One thing that helped me go back to stock was ditching the HEI distributor, which gave me much more room near the throttle arm to eliminate interference. I replaced it with a small bodied 2 wire distributor, without any vacuum advance can.

[tanksteve]

how about this?