Moving pedal box in a Hunter / Cabrio

[greyV8pete]

Thought for the day! As the pedal box and servo etc seems to be an independant assembly is there any reason why it protrudes forward into the engine bay by about 30mm? More to the point is there any reason why it couldn't be moved rearwards to bring it flush with the bulkhead? It would give me a more comfortable (straighter arm) driving position and avoid my right elbow hitting the narrow ledge on the door card. I have the LWB version and usually get in with the seat fully back and then move it forward about 30mm so I can reach the pedals comfortably. If the pedal box was moved back by 30mm I wouldn't need to move the seat but would have 30mm more arm distance to the steering wheel. Peter.

[Mike]

Re: Moving pedal box in a Hunter / Cabrio

Thought for the day! As the pedal box and servo etc seems to be an independant assembly is there any reason why it protrudes forward into the engine bay by about 30mm? More to the point is there any reason why it couldn't be moved rearwards to bring it flush with the bulkhead? It would give me a more comfortable (straighter arm) driving position and avoid my right elbow hitting the narrow ledge on the door card. I have the LWB version and usually get in with the seat fully back and then move it forward about 30mm so I can reach the pedals comfortably. If the pedal box was moved back by 30mm I wouldn't need to move the seat but would have 30mm more arm distance to the steering wheel. Peter.

Hi Peter

Having taken my pedal box out more times than I care to remember (head in the footwell, feet up in the air, usually swearing....!) I know it well.

It should be very easy to do what you propose. I believe the reason it projects forward was to improve legroom for taller people - along with the lengthened chassis in the LWB, as the SWB was too restrictive for guys over 6 feet tall.






If you use two pieces of 30 x 30mm box, and drill two holes to create a vertical spacer down each side, it should be a very simple job with longer mounting bolts. You may even be lucky and find that your cables and pipework will allow you to do this without disconnecting them, making it a very easy job. Just remove the existing fixings, slide the pedal box back 30mm, insert spacers, and bolt back up with longer fixing bolts. Job done.......you wish!

If you look carefully at my pedal box you'll see I welded nuts to the top two holes of my pedal box to avoid having to perform unnatural contortion acts whilst in the footwell trying to get the **!*!** nuts back on! - its definitely a two man job if the nuts are not welded on.

PS
Just check whether the pedal box has been bolted at its rear - ie nearest to the driver, through the top of the firewall. If it has you will need to drill new holes: if it has not, then its a very good idea to add this strengthening to the location of the pedal box which is pretty flimsy.

[greyV8pete]

Re: Moving pedal box in a Hunter / Cabrio

Thanks Mike. That's just the good news that I need! Attached photo shows my "access panel" that I made some time ago for fitting the dual servo so that should make things easier! I remember well the two bolts that you mentioned. I think I used a lot of extension bars with the nut / bolt fixed in the socket with a bit of evo stik. Aha! I can renew my sus clutch slave cylinder at the same time! Will do some more investigation! Peter.

Access Panel.

Access Panel.jpg

[cabrioman]

Re: Moving pedal box in a Hunter / Cabrio

hi Peter

Its not a problem, I moved my pedal box back about 45mm for the same reason. With the original setup I had to be very close to the steering wheel (I am 5 8"). I actually cut off the original mounting flanges on the pedal box and fitted 4mm thick 25mm angle iron further forward to move it 40mm back into the car. I now have a good driving position with the added advantage of solving the servo/master cylinder to side panel clearance issues the LWB cars have.

John

[greyV8pete]

Re: Moving pedal box in a Hunter / Cabrio

hi Peter

Its not a problem, I moved my pedal box back about 45mm for the same reason. With the original setup I had to be very close to the steering wheel (I am 5 8"). I actually cut off the original mounting flanges on the pedal box and fitted 4mm thick 25mm angle iron further forward to move it 40mm back into the car. I now have a good driving position with the added advantage of solving the servo/master cylinder to side panel clearance issues the LWB cars have.

John

Thanks for the info John. The project looks very possible now. Guess I willl have to shorten the outer casing of the throttle cable by the same amount too. There is plenty of free cable length anyway on mine. Peter.

[Mike]

Re: Moving pedal box in a Hunter / Cabrio

Thanks for the info John. The project looks very possible now. Guess I willl have to shorten the outer casing of the throttle cable by the same amount too. There is plenty of free cable length anyway on mine. Peter.

Why do you think you will need to change the throttle cable outer case?
If the inner and outer can be moved back there should be no need to make a change.
The likely more difficult items will be your hard brake lines? What kind of clutch does your Rover have - cable or hydraulic?

[Mike]

Re: Moving pedal box in a Hunter / Cabrio

hi Peter

Its not a problem, I moved my pedal box back about 45mm for the same reason. With the original setup I had to be very close to the steering wheel (I am 5 8"). I actually cut off the original mounting flanges on the pedal box and fitted 4mm thick 25mm angle iron further forward to move it 40mm back into the car. I now have a good driving position with the added advantage of solving the servo/master cylinder to side panel clearance issues the LWB cars have.

John

Hi John

This sounds like a good idea for us shorter legged guys!
I'm even worse, I have long arms too!

Does it improve elbow room marginally too?

[greyV8pete]

Re: Moving pedal box in a Hunter / Cabrio

Why do you think you will need to change the throttle cable outer case?
If the inner and outer can be moved back there should be no need to make a change.
The likely more difficult items will be your hard brake lines? What kind of clutch doe4s your Rover have - cable or hydraulic?

Hi Mike. In my photo above you can just see the throttle cable ending in a ferrule at the bulkhead. I thought that it would be much easier to shorten the outer rather than trying to make up a new bracket inside the footwell. Yes the hard brake lines will need altering but as I have already fitted an in-line joiner to one of them for the dual servo mod I don't have a problem with adding a couple more. Also as I have got rid of the bulk coolant tank the hoses in the above photo are no longer there, giving much more access to the brake lines. The R380 has a hydraulic clutch so the only small mod would be to make an offset bracket to move the hydraulic reservoir inwards 12mm to avoid the side of the dual servo. A useful spin off for this intended mod is that the nasty cut out in the side panel can be closed up as the servo will be clear of that area. Peter.

[Mike]

Re: Moving pedal box in a Hunter / Cabrio

Hi Mike. In my photo above you can just see the throttle cable ending in a ferrule at the bulkhead. I thought that it would be much easier to shorten the outer rather than trying to make up a new bracket inside the footwell. Yes the hard brake lines will need altering but as I have already fitted an in-line joiner to one of them for the dual servo mod I don't have a problem with adding a couple more. Also as I have got rid of the bulk coolant tank the hoses in the above photo are no longer there, giving much more access to the brake lines. The R380 has a hydraulic clutch so the only small mod would be to make an offset bracket to move the hydraulic reservoir inwards 12mm to avoid the side of the dual servo. A useful spin off for this intended mod is that the nasty cut out in the side panel can be closed up as the servo will be clear of that area. Peter.

.......of course! I was thinking the throttle cable fixed to the pedal box, but it does not.......makes sense now.

Good luck with the mod - let us know if it works out as well as you hope?

Mike

[cabrioman]

Re: Moving pedal box in a Hunter / Cabrio

Hi John

This sounds like a good idea for us shorter legged guys!
I'm even worse, I have long arms too!

Does it improve elbow room marginally too?

I guess it does as it allows me to have the seat further back which is into the wider section of the cockpit, my lad who is 6ft 3" can still get a driving position for him so I am not sure why they positioned the pedal box so far forward.

John