Clutch pedal extension
Thread Starter
8th Gear
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Clutch pedal extension
Need advice on how to extend the clutch pedal on my 73 which can be quickly taken off and on. My wife is 5’2”. She loves to drive it but has to stretch to much. Already made a cushion for the seat and a spacer behind the seat to sit more straight up. Need about 1 1/2 more on pedal. Thanks
Popular Reply
Aug 30, 2020, 09:39 PM
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,705
Likes: 983
From: Orlando FL
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,117
From: Crossville TN
You can Gerry-rig something, but that may present some safety risk if the device fails or slips off the pedal. You might want to contact some business who produces such devices for 'challenged' drivers. There are all kinds of prosthetic devices for facilitating different ways of driving a vehicle. They may already have plowed this ground and may already have products, or at least suggestions, for doing just what you need. Google is your friend on this one....
Is my vette stock?? HAHA
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 20,187
Likes: 9,324
From: Im not allowed to tell you
2020 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
you could use a block of oak or somethiing similiar that is wider than the pedal and cut a pocket to match the top of the pedal so that it sits almost flush with the bottom surface
drill 4 holes in the corners that bypass the pedal. and counter sink them
take a piece of 3/32 square stock from lowes or homedepot and drill 4 holes to match the wood.
use a file and square up the holes in the steel and use carriage bolts that are just below the surface of the block and bolt together with a locking nut
cover the surface with a non slip material and you have a block that only needs 4 bolts to remove
If you have a friend at a machine shop make the thick block out of aluminum
drill 4 holes in the corners that bypass the pedal. and counter sink them
take a piece of 3/32 square stock from lowes or homedepot and drill 4 holes to match the wood.
use a file and square up the holes in the steel and use carriage bolts that are just below the surface of the block and bolt together with a locking nut
cover the surface with a non slip material and you have a block that only needs 4 bolts to remove
If you have a friend at a machine shop make the thick block out of aluminum
Safety Car
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 4,353
Likes: 1,581
From: los altos hills california
Personally I think this approach is ill-advised for safety reasons, as 7T1 states. Don't do it, don't do it.
Why is it the brake pedal is OK, but the clutch isn't? I assume it is so the clutch more fully disengages? If you have to stomp on the brakes hard you also want as much purchase as you can get. The gas pedal is even further down there but can be effectively blocked up some as I have done for better heel and toe.
I would look into more adjustment to the seat rails and if the steering wheel then becomes too close, replacing the steering column with an adjustable column. More $$ perhaps but this is convention on modern cars to accommodate as many driver body types as humanly possible.
Oh, and if you have the original steering wheel, and power steering, a smaller diameter steering wheel.
Why is it the brake pedal is OK, but the clutch isn't? I assume it is so the clutch more fully disengages? If you have to stomp on the brakes hard you also want as much purchase as you can get. The gas pedal is even further down there but can be effectively blocked up some as I have done for better heel and toe.
I would look into more adjustment to the seat rails and if the steering wheel then becomes too close, replacing the steering column with an adjustable column. More $$ perhaps but this is convention on modern cars to accommodate as many driver body types as humanly possible.
Oh, and if you have the original steering wheel, and power steering, a smaller diameter steering wheel.
Last edited by ignatz; Aug 31, 2020 at 04:27 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 4,353
Likes: 1,581
From: los altos hills california
Being terminally bored right now I went out and looked a bit at my pedal assembly. In my car, my clutch pedal already sits about 1-1/2" higher than my brake pedal. Not sure why that is but there is some adjustment potential in the push rods leading to my z-bar. I have some better aftermarket parts in there from I think SpeedDirect so I can't readily recall what the stock setup looks like..
Looking from under and up into the pedal assembly some more, I can see a rubber stop that limits the pedal's height. That might be a place you could cut some material and still be OK. It is hard to get at. You might look into some assembly drawings if you can find them on line. The AIM assembly manual is always a good place to look at what's supposed to be there. Sometimes parts catalogs have enough info dwgs to give you a bit more insight. Possibly with enough tweaking you will get closer to your goal. Still the brake reach question remains. I suppose standing on the pedal and gripping the steering wheel is always a last resort.
Herein my intermediate advice, get all the slack you can out of your clutch linkage, leaving just enough free play so you are not riding on the throwout bearing.
Looking from under and up into the pedal assembly some more, I can see a rubber stop that limits the pedal's height. That might be a place you could cut some material and still be OK. It is hard to get at. You might look into some assembly drawings if you can find them on line. The AIM assembly manual is always a good place to look at what's supposed to be there. Sometimes parts catalogs have enough info dwgs to give you a bit more insight. Possibly with enough tweaking you will get closer to your goal. Still the brake reach question remains. I suppose standing on the pedal and gripping the steering wheel is always a last resort.
Herein my intermediate advice, get all the slack you can out of your clutch linkage, leaving just enough free play so you are not riding on the throwout bearing.
Last edited by ignatz; Aug 31, 2020 at 05:24 PM.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Racer
Joined: Jun 2020
Posts: 293
Likes: 107
From: Highland Village, TX
St. Jude Donor '21
Was hoping the type of extension you were looking for was longer length. I struggle with getting my size 12.5 up under the dash onto the clutch pedal. Often wiring from under the dash gets caught by my foot.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,495
Likes: 134
From: Blanco County, TX
Originally Posted by ignatz;1602104800......
In my car, my clutch pedal already sits about 1-1/2" higher than my brake pedal. Not sure why that is but there is some adjustment potential in the push rods leading to my z-bar. I have some better aftermarket parts in there from I think SpeedDirect so I can't readily recall what the stock setup looks like..
Looking from under and up into the pedal assembly some more, I can see a rubber stop that limits the pedal's height. That might be a place you could cut some material and still be OK. It is hard to get at......
Looking from under and up into the pedal assembly some more, I can see a rubber stop that limits the pedal's height. That might be a place you could cut some material and still be OK. It is hard to get at......
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 3,232
Likes: 1,232
From: PHX AZ
So I have a buddy...he says he's 5'-0 (but he's 4'11") LOL.
He made a 4X4 wood block of the appropriate height, embedded two small C-clamps in it and uses that. He glued some 60 grit sandpaper to the top of the block.
Good for HER!
Unkahal
He made a 4X4 wood block of the appropriate height, embedded two small C-clamps in it and uses that. He glued some 60 grit sandpaper to the top of the block.
Good for HER!
Unkahal
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 3,232
Likes: 1,232
From: PHX AZ
You can Gerry-rig something, but that may present some safety risk if the device fails or slips off the pedal. You might want to contact some business who produces such devices for 'challenged' drivers. There are all kinds of prosthetic devices for facilitating different ways of driving a vehicle. They may already have plowed this ground and may already have products, or at least suggestions, for doing just what you need. Google is your friend on this one....
Safety Car
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 4,353
Likes: 1,581
From: los altos hills california
Not to thread jack the OP's post, but I had this problem too...clutch pedal too high. When I was gutting the interior, I discovered the metal tab on the clutch/brake bracket that holds the rubber limit stop was bent. I bent it back and welded it so that couldn't happen again. It's really the only way the clutch pedal can be riding high unless the pedal arm is bent or the pivot pin (not the push rod pin which is whole other issue) is severely worn, which is highly unlikely. Probably caused by too many clutch dumps by the PO.
I also remember "popping the clutch". One more thing I don't do anymore.
to you
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 2,116
Likes: 156
From: Mid West
Cruise-In III Veteran
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 239
Likes: 116
From: Wilmington, NC
I actually made one that I'm not using anymore. I cast a spacer out of plastic and it has a curved aluminum plate on top with countersunk screws. Your rubber clutch pedal snaps right over the plate. The screws are used to hold it to the clutch pedal. I drilled holes in the steel pedal and put nuts under it to hold but if you were more ambitious you could tap a thread or use one of those rivet nut things. It is removeable and you can put the pedal pad right back on the clutch pedal. I am out of town until the weekend but can send you pics if PM me your email. I'll send it to you if you cover the shipping.
Racer
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 319
Likes: 125
From: Midwest
In 1979, Chevrolet installed, as standard equipment in all Corvettes, the new seats that were associated with the '78 Pace Car.
Coinciding with that change, the seat tracks were also redesigned for an extra inch of forward travel.
I'm not sure, but if '79-'82 seat tracks could be installed in earlier C3 cars, perhaps that would provide a safer and more convenient solution to the challenge the OP is trying to resolve for his wife.
Coinciding with that change, the seat tracks were also redesigned for an extra inch of forward travel.
I'm not sure, but if '79-'82 seat tracks could be installed in earlier C3 cars, perhaps that would provide a safer and more convenient solution to the challenge the OP is trying to resolve for his wife.
1st Gear
Joined: Dec 2023
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Need one of these for wife
I actually made one that I'm not using anymore. I cast a spacer out of plastic and it has a curved aluminum plate on top with countersunk screws. Your rubber clutch pedal snaps right over the plate. The screws are used to hold it to the clutch pedal. I drilled holes in the steel pedal and put nuts under it to hold but if you were more ambitious you could tap a thread or use one of those rivet nut things. It is removeable and you can put the pedal pad right back on the clutch pedal. I am out of town until the weekend but can send you pics if PM me your email. I'll send it to you if you cover the shipping.
zhhello. My wife is shirt but loves her 76 vette i tead youf post and this is just what she needs. If you have a picture of it i would love to see it or if you still have it i would like to make arrangements to get it . My email is gleanspann@gmail.com thank you so much. Have a blessed day.