How to lower your clutch pedal for quicker, firmer, shifts and performance driving.

03snkvert

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I have the LDC Freeplay kit on my car also and I think it makes quite a bit more effort to push the pedal down. Is there any way to maybe cut a couple coils off of the spring to keep the pressure down a little bit, otherwise I may take it off also and see how the TOB rides.
 

gmsux

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The quick release quadrant makes sense. I was doing this mod on my own w/o research and used everything listed but that. When done, I could barely get enough clutch disengagement and took the pedal adj. out. With quick release, I can see where that would work. I'll have to order one of those.
 

gmsux

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I've got the quick release quadrant in and put the low pedal adj. back in. Sent my D/S off to Dynotech for a high speed balance so I'll report back once the car is on the ground...
 

exdeath

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Throwing in my experiences with this.

I have a firewall adjuster and quadrant, adjustable cable, and LDC free play spring. I also have the MM pedal height adjuster.

First put the pedal where you want it with the height adjuster bracket. You can install the quadrant at the same time. There are two major issues to be concerned with when lowering the clutch pedal:

1) You are decreasing the amount of pedal travel available to fully disengage the clutch. Too much and you won't have enough room from rest height to floor to fully actuate the clutch from full on to full off. The pedal travel to clutch travel ratio can be decreased with a steeper ramping quadrant that takes up more cable with less distance (eg: the Steeda red "quick release" one).

2) The neutral start safety switch is a normally "pushed in" design activated from the top of the clutch pedal. That means as you push the pedal down, the pedal arm lifts off and away from the switch allowing it to pop out to the state that allows you to start the car. This means if you lower the pedal too much, it will lose contact with the switch and allow the car to be started in gear with the clutch fully engaged!

I used the adjustable cable to get it in the ball park under the car and the firewall adjuster to fine tune it.

With the car on a drive on lift and engine running, I got under the car with a pry bar on the release fork and observed when the TOB made contact (you can see and hear it spin up) and went back and forth to the firewall adjuster until I barely had to touch the fork to get it to contact, but definately not contacting when not touching it at all. If the firewall adjuster runs out of room, I reset it and take it out from the cable at the fork end, and start over.

To get it as close and tight as most people desire, just the cable tension is enough to pull the fork forward ever so slightly and engage the TOB into the clutch, while pushing back on the fork is enough to break TOB contact. We are talking paper thin gap between the TOB and pressure plate, with just the relaxation of the cable being enough to close the gap. This is why you're supposed to leave slack in the cable so this does not happen. Enter the LDC freeplay adjuster. It's nothing more than a spring between the fork end and bellhousing that pushes the fork away from the clutch, allowing you to eliminate that last bit of slack in the cable without the resulting cable tension relaxing and pulling the fork forward ever so slightly and rubbing the TOB.

Think that about covers everything anyone would want to know about the clutch system on these cars.

PS: if you are going to a clutch with more bite like a Spec 3+, make sure you have some urethane motor mounts ready to install in a couple months.
 
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exdeath

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I had to call SVT on this a year or so ago and was told that the TOB is supposed to be in contact with the flywheel at all times. That is the way it was designed, even with foot off the pedal.

Assuming you meant pressure plate instead of flywheel.

"The way it was designed" results in worn out TOBs and TOB retainer sleeves from the factory. Possibly an unforeseen consequence of a poor design solution attempting to firm up the clutch pedal in a way that the stock cable actuated system cannot accommodate. It may have worked to reduce pedal slack, but they didn't think about things like TOB squealing and cutting into the sleeve 30k miles later due to premature bearing wear. By the time mine started squealing at 40k, the TOB was bone dry and caked in clutch dust with torn metal peeking out from of the bearings.

The point of doing your own mods is to make it better than the way it was designed from the factory.
 
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gmsux

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Potentially, by positioning the TOB against the PP play is reduced allowing more efficient clutch disengagement and improved clutch feel

The TOB in hydraulic clutches are commonly against the PP and they live fine. Perhaps try a good TOB like the Timken unit. That's the TOB I'm using with no problems with a tight adjustment.
 

SouthTXSnake

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Does anyone have any instructions on how to install the Fiore Firewall adjuster? I have the clutch cable out of the firewall and I've already removed the metal washer with a screwdriver and dremeled off the prongs from the plastic housing. Now I'm just not sure how it goes back together. There's a lock screw on the adjuster, I'm guessing this mounts facing down on the firewall so it can be adjusted?? Any help is appreaciated.

JP
 

LargeOrangeFont

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Does anyone have any instructions on how to install the Fiore Firewall adjuster? I have the clutch cable out of the firewall and I've already removed the metal washer with a screwdriver and dremeled off the prongs from the plastic housing. Now I'm just not sure how it goes back together. There's a lock screw on the adjuster, I'm guessing this mounts facing down on the firewall so it can be adjusted?? Any help is appreaciated.

JP

The "flange" sits on the firewall and you use the included screws to screw the adjuster to the firewall. The threaded adjuster portion will thread into and out of the flange you just bolted to the firewall.
 

SouthTXSnake

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The "flange" sits on the firewall and you use the included screws to screw the adjuster to the firewall. The threaded adjuster portion will thread into and out of the flange you just bolted to the firewall.

Once the flange is bolted to the firewall do I just place the clear plastic sleeve that came with the kit on the end of the plastic housing where the prongs were cut off? Sorry if my questions are confusing and thanks for the quick reply. I'm pulling my hair out here. Getting another cold one. lol

JP
 

LargeOrangeFont

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Once the flange is bolted to the firewall do I just place the clear plastic sleeve that came with the kit on the end of the plastic housing where the prongs were cut off? Sorry if my questions are confusing and thanks for the quick reply. I'm pulling my hair out here. Getting another cold one. lol

JP

No, I don't think you need the plastic sleeve, just put the cable through the adjuster and hook it back up to the quadrant.
 

SouthTXSnake

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All I can say is Great Mod!!! Had some trouble initially though after I installed the pedal height adjuster. The pedal was so low that the car would not go into any gear. Not enough room to fully disengage the clutch. It was a PITA because I had already reinstalled the seat. Also, with the seat instillation, make sure you have a deep socket 15mm for the front seat bolts. Had to use a wrench and lets just say that it took a while to put that front seat in twice!! Ended up taking the height adjuster completely off and everything worked fine. From underneath the car I had about 1/8 play from the TOB to the PP fingers. Firewall adjuster is almost screwed into the firewall and the cable is nice and tight. There is no play on the clutch pedal. Also, to save some time, connect the cable to the quadrant first then make the connection from underneath.

I don't know how someone could do this install with the seat in. I had a hard time even with the seat out of the car. I'm going to be sore for a couple of days. I'm glad I took the time to do cause now I know how everything works for when it comes time to replace the clutch. One last thing, I didn't have to use jack stands for the rear of the car. The front ramps worked fine. I just lifted up the front a few inches more with the jack and used jack stands for safety. Also remember to use chock blocks for the rear tires so the car won't roll back.

Big thanks to LargeOrangeFont for the help and quick replies. Now that I know how to do this It can be done in less than a couple of hours. Took me all day the first time around!! LOL.

JP
 

Mint Julep

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Ashley,

I ordered the parts, but found a Fiore micro-click firewall adjuster so I ordered that. Any concerns with that piece?

Mint
 

TEX-STANG

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Hey LargeOrangeFont check your PMs please........I have a few questions about adjusting my clutch cable that maybe you can help out with.......I was just asking if you could hit me up via email so I can go back and forth with out having to go thru SVTP.
Thanks,John
 

TEX-STANG

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Throwing in my experiences with this.

I have a firewall adjuster and quadrant, adjustable cable, and LDC free play spring. I also have the MM pedal height adjuster.

First put the pedal where you want it with the height adjuster bracket. You can install the quadrant at the same time. There are two major issues to be concerned with when lowering the clutch pedal:

1) You are decreasing the amount of pedal travel available to fully disengage the clutch. Too much and you won't have enough room from rest height to floor to fully actuate the clutch from full on to full off. The pedal travel to clutch travel ratio can be decreased with a steeper ramping quadrant that takes up more cable with less distance (eg: the Steeda red "quick release" one).

2) The neutral start safety switch is a normally "pushed in" design activated from the top of the clutch pedal. That means as you push the pedal down, the pedal arm lifts off and away from the switch allowing it to pop out to the state that allows you to start the car. This means if you lower the pedal too much, it will lose contact with the switch and allow the car to be started in gear with the clutch fully engaged!

I used the adjustable cable to get it in the ball park under the car and the firewall adjuster to fine tune it.

With the car on a drive on lift and engine running, I got under the car with a pry bar on the release fork and observed when the TOB made contact (you can see and hear it spin up) and went back and forth to the firewall adjuster until I barely had to touch the fork to get it to contact, but definately not contacting when not touching it at all. If the firewall adjuster runs out of room, I reset it and take it out from the cable at the fork end, and start over.

To get it as close and tight as most people desire, just the cable tension is enough to pull the fork forward ever so slightly and engage the TOB into the clutch, while pushing back on the fork is enough to break TOB contact. We are talking paper thin gap between the TOB and pressure plate, with just the relaxation of the cable being enough to close the gap. This is why you're supposed to leave slack in the cable so this does not happen. Enter the LDC freeplay adjuster. It's nothing more than a spring between the fork end and bellhousing that pushes the fork away from the clutch, allowing you to eliminate that last bit of slack in the cable without the resulting cable tension relaxing and pulling the fork forward ever so slightly and rubbing the TOB.

Think that about covers everything anyone would want to know about the clutch system on these cars.

PS: if you are going to a clutch with more bite like a Spec 3+, make sure you have some urethane motor mounts ready to install in a couple months.

I have a Spec 3+ what do you mean about the urathane motor mounts??
 

Mint Julep

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Ashley,

I obtained all of the parts and completed my installation yesterday afternoon. I am setup exactly as your diagrams show using your recommended parts. Big difference over stock! I have a new Spec Stage 3+ clutch kit with the Lethal TOB retainer sleeve that now have about 500 miles of break-in.

One question I have is that when I position the FW adjuster so there's slight cable slack and the TOB is not up against the pressure plate when the clutch pedal is disengaged, the car won't shift into some gears unless I jam the clutch pedal thru the floorboard - and that's hit and miss. To correct this, I positioned the FW adjuster out to take up enough slack so the clutch enages about 1 inch off of the floor (about 1/3 of the clutch pedal travel).

I also noticed that I do get an occassional "chatter" when I slightly depress the clutch pedal. When I fully engage the clutch pedal when shifting gears, I don't get this chatter at all. What's interesting is the more slack in the cable I have, the more sensitive the pedal becomes and will chatter with even the lightest touch of my foot on the pedal.

I believe the chatter sound I'm hearing is due to the TOB lightly touching the pressure plate fingers.

Any suggestions?

TIA,

Mint
 

DaveMan

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Over the weekend I installed the MM clutch pedal height adjuster and Steeda QR quadrant. I adjusted the pedal as high as the kit will allow, just a little above the brake pedal. I did not use the spacer between the cable and FW adjuster because I didn't have an issue with it being out too far or hitting the firewall. I could barely get the car into gear no matter how I adjusted it.

I've been told I need the spacer but when you think about it why would I? That would only help to get more adjustment if the FW adjuster was the whole way out and hitting the valve cover right? (FW adjuster is only out about half way) It doesn't change the ramp ratio and make the clutch disengage more. The only thing that makes that change is the quadrant, which is why the OP recommends a Steeda QR. I also had a Steeda double hook to try and it was even worse like I figured.

I ended up taking the MM pedal kit out and running the Steeda QR and the car shifts great now. The pedal felt perfect in the highest position though and I hope to find a way to get it to work.

My car is a late 03 with 22,000 miles on the stock clutch.
 

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