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The Restoration of PRRROWL
TIGER # B382000221

An Article by John Crawley
March, 2001


Page 23

SIZE 12 IN A TIGER!

If you have larger than "normal" feet you may find it a bit of a squeeze in the Tiger foot well. My extra wide feet simply would not fit between the right hand side of the transmission tunnel and the brake peddle. Even turning my foot sideways to press on the gas left me in danger of having my foot jammed in the wrong spot.

To fix this I removed the brake pedal with the intention of heating it and bending it to the left. Upon closer inspection I realized that this part was cast iron. I am leery of attempting to bend cast particularly cast that is part of the braking system. Instead I ground off 3/4 of an inch from the right hand edge of the pedal. This is the part that is covered with a rubber footpad. I duplicated this part of the pedal in metal that was the same thickness as the original. I then welded this to the original pedal but moved it to the left by 3/4 of an inch. The original rubber foot pad fit with no problem. When installed the clutch and brake are now 3/4 of an inch closer together but this presents no problem in compared to the brake being too close to the gas peddle. Three quarters of inch is not much but it makes a difference when you what to get on the "loud peddle" the first try.

By welding a plate on top of the pedal the integrity of the original part was kept intact. Even if my weld should fail the original part is still functional.

WARNING: It may be illegal to weld on any component of a brake system in your area. Check the law and have only a licensed welder do this work. This modification is what I did to my car and I make no recommendations for you to do or to have done similar work on your car.

Dead Pedal

This worked fine for the right foot but now I found that my left foot had nowhere to rest except on top of the dimmer switch. To give more space I moved the dimmer switch up on to the firewall. I found a round raised area on the firewall just above the original switch position that was just perfect for mounting the switch on. Take care anytime you drill that there is no brake lines, or wires, on the other side!!

I then built a "dead pedal", the size of my foot, that bolted onto the holes in the bracket that previously held the dimmer switch. I adjusted the angle of the dead pedal to the floor to give the most comfortable position for my ankle. A "dead peddle" is simply a metal plate to rest your left foot on. It not only provides a support for your foot I gives you something to push against to get you back into the correct seating position after spirited cornering. I believe that it was Jackie Stewart that stated that a properly placed dead pedal was an important but often over looked component of a race car.


 
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