As I mentioned yesterday, I'm fixing a few problems on my Dad's '85 C4 for him. As I was driving it home, the cheesy plastic pedal hinge broke and the accelerator fell off and was hanging by the throttle cable. Thank God for cruise control! After searching threads and the internet, I determined that there really isn't much aftermarket available as a replacement. So, I welded this one up this afternoon. It works very well and has less slop than the stock unit. The best part is, it's not going to break. If anybody wants, I can work-up a bill of materials and a cut sheet for all you D.I.Y.ers.

 

Well, R-D Racing made a billet piece but it was not cheap. Don't see it on their site anymore. After mine broke, I replaced it with a new factory piece. It's held up just fine.

Your piece looks plenty strong.

 

Here is some background information about these brackets.

VettMike produced the billet throttle pedal brackets that were sold
by R-D Racing while that company was run by Dave Cooper.

After circumstances changed at R-D, VettMike sold brackets to folks
on CF who posted looking for help. As I recall, he was asking $50 +
postage for his very nicely machined aluminum part. Unfortunately,
health issues overcame Mike and he passed away in May '07.

Many C4 owners have had success with the VettMike billet pedal
bracket. I have one for my '89. The instructions that Mike provided
with the bracket were more detailed and better illustrated than some
magazines I subscribe to.

However, at least one owner of an '85 vintage has reported that the
bracket was not a direct replacement for his pedal. Apparently, it
is possible to adapt the bracket to fit an '85 (& 84?) but some
modification is required.

It looks like punchesdfw now has a bolt-on solution for the '85 cars.

For owners of the later cars, CF member 'Carolina C4 Racer' is very
familiar with the VettMike bracket and if you contact him, he may be
able comment about whether any are still available for those who are
interested.

.

 

Doug,
No luck with Rick and the email address I sent you ?
Tony

 

Nope. No reply. Besides, it was cold and rainy and I didn't have anything else to do. I'm an Engineer by training, but I haven't done it for many years and I need an outlet. I'm a BMW guy and am always building stuff. I put an M20 6-Cyl engine in my Son's '74 2002 which practically doubled the H.P.. He posted a video of it on you tube doing smokey donuts!

 

Yup, I welded myself up a bracket and took extra care to make it near perfect. No slop in the pedal now.

 

If mine breaks I'll get another plastic one and go another 23 years.

The CNC aluminum one was worthless in my opinion. It introduced more slop at the pivot than the factory piece. Good effort and pretty looking, but poorly designed. Perhaps the holes in the later pedal arms are different, because most of them were happy with it.

Early C4s have a different pedal bracket with a lower pivot location. Using the "one-size-fits-all" CNC piece can cause the pedal arm to bind at WOT. You could redrill and grind down the CNC piece to work, but after spending that much, what's the point?

Some people are afraid to give honest criticism about parts, especially if it's sold by RD Racing or somebody that's terminally ill.

 

Just to give the other side of the story, I bought the aluminum bracket and it fit perfectly in my 92. I bought mine from the designer before it went to R&D Racing.

 

I have one on the shelf in the garage ready to go into my 94. I was ready to go when I heard about some fitment issues so mine remained on the shelf! So it appears that the "R&D"/Vettmike piece should fit just fine in a 94? Correct?

 

.., Unless you are on a road trip in the middle of no-where when it breaks. My Dad's broke at night, in heavy traffic, on the Interstate, in a snowstorm. Luckily, I was driving and was able to drive it another 200-miles with the cruise control. The thought of my 73 year old Dad having to deal with such a problem, drove my decision to build one. The weird offset mount design was flawed from the get go. Building it out of plastic only made it worse. The plastic one will break some day. My steel one won't.

 

Nice fab job I replaced mine a couple of years ago with the aluminum unit after breaking it at the track, fit perfect, great directions & product.

Dave

 

I'm on my third gas pedal assembly. I just know this will break some day, too. Both previous pedals broke at the drag strip. Luckily, I was able to prop it into place with my other foot and keep on racing. I'd love to find an affordable alternative.

RACE ON!!!

 

The only fitment issues I've read about were on the early cars before GM changed the pivot location. It should fit yours no problem. Also the hinge pin provided in the kit was a sloppy fit in the pedal arm (one side has a square hole), and also a sloppy fit within the aluminum piece itself.

 

Small price to pay for not losing a race but I'm very testy about losing

Dave

 

"Luckily, I was able to prop it into place with my other foot and keep on racing.". If that had been the reason I didn't win, I'd have bought three of them.

RACE ON!!!

 

I hear ya'

 

That sounds like me trying to drag race with no clutch fluid. Going home that early in the brackets wasn't an option! But it's not often you line up with a hottie in a Cobra kit car.

 

I have broken two also on my 96. Now that GM has quit making them I have purchased two used one's. I used some J-B weld and filled in the the open spaces on the bottom side of the plastic where mine broke. I hope this will make the plastic hold up better.Every 3 years of breaking this part is a pain.

I have emailed Mike's wife to see if there are anymore of his hinges to be had.

Happy New Year
Louis