stinx

My wife and I just bought an 07 Mustang GT CS convertible. So far we love the car but have one issue. My wife is only 4'11 and she has a hard time with the clutch pedal. Does anybodymake and extension to place on the clutch pedal?

fairlane292

I'm going to assume that you'd like to be easily able to switch between OE height and that there isn't an extension that is available or would work for you. Here's what I would do:

0) (Idea from FlaPony): using different pieces of wood or something similar and tape, determine about how much higher you want the pedal. You should't need to drive the car to determine this. For pusposes of this write up I am assuming that you want 1 1/2" more. Do leave about 5/8" of bolt thread beyond the attaching nut and lock washer mentioned below.You can trim this off later but this gives you the change to gain another5/8" of extension if youwant it. Don't leave much more than that because you don't want to affect the clutch operation. Ultimately you'll want to remove the excess bolt material.

1) The rubber wrap on the pedal is a big pain to take off, put back on, take off, put back on, etc. (order a second one)

2) Make2 cardboard patterns of the clutch pedal with several thicknesses of white poster board and a with some rtv or paint on the edge of the metal of the pedal also press a small piece of poster white cardboard on the edge to get a reading on the metal thickness. Have any sheet metal shop make two copies, going slightly thicker on the steel than OE. I just took a quick look but it looks like you can go with two holes on each, side by side, use 3/8 holes.
(you will mark and drill the two holes in the OE pedal after the two extension pedals are fabricated)

3) Pick up the two new pedals from the metal shop.

4) Use the white cardboard patterns of the clutch pedaland mark/cut/drill out in the cardboard where the two 3/8 holes will go.(Make sure holes in each of the two patterns are in the same location)

5) Use 3/8 fully threaded stove bolts (rounded head) and grind "most" of the roundness off of the top of the bolt so it sits flat against the new pedal. Put two bolts through the pattern with a nut on each side so the bolts sit flat and extend them thesame amount (at least 2") on the bolt head side (check by settingit down on aflat surface and eyeballing it from all sides.With a fine point marker, mark around wherethe2 head boltsmeet the new pedal while the bolts are fixed in the pattern. With a sharp pointed tool (ice pick, finish nail, etc) scratch anice mark in the metal where the marker circle line is. ...with fine sandpaper,sand away the marker line leaving only the circle scratch. This tells the shop where to position the bolt head for welding. (Mark pattern A and new pedal A).Repeat the process (Mark patternB and new pedal B)

6) Have the bolts welded where the circle scratch indicates. (keeping cardboard patterns still bolted in place while they are welded or at least tacked)

7) Replace rubber pedal covers on both new pedals.

8) Mark where to drill in OE pedal by puting a thin film of rtv on bolts ends. Drill the two 3/8" hole sand check fit of new pedal. Then check to see if second pedal will also hit holes ok; might need to then drill 7/16" so both will easily fit.

9)On your wifes pedal, thread a lock nut on first, (if tapered lock nut put taper up towards pedal). I'dstart with nuts 1 1/4" down from pedal. Attach with std nut and lock washer.

10) On your pedal, no lock nut unless you are also 4' 11" (lol). Attach with std nut and lock washer.

I'd keep a spare ratchet/socket in the glove box and now you can easily and anywherechange out pedals in less than 5 mins and you have not made any mods to your car that anyone can even notice should you decide to sell one day. Might sound like a lot of steps but this is childs play. Nearly every sheetmetal shop can weld the bolts to the patterns that you have them cut for ya. ...shouldn't cost much and you have a nice looking result and the convenience of 'quick change'. If the brake pedal is somewhat of anissue for your wife do all 4 new pedals at one time. 'economy in the volume effort.'

Good luck man, if you have any thoughts or questions on this just PM me. ...gotta be comfortable to really enjoy these cars.

mlcrycc

WOW [sm=jawdrop.gif][sm=jawdrop.gif]Talk about an informative, helpful post....!!! Kudos fairlane, kudos.........


Mike

FlaPony

Fairlane, you're the man... I was gonna suggest a piece of 2x4 and Duct tape.

mlcrycc

A quick Google turned this as well..............


http://www.garyecolleinc.com/extensions.html

hammeron

fairlane292

Yeah, I looked around some and saw this too($219 incl clutch though; looks kinda ugly, no?).Just me but I would want both the OE look and quick change capability.You could get it all done even with the welding (thoughI would be doingthe weldingmyself if it were mine) for about $50 for two or $75 for four. I'lltell ya not to many ladies driving "stick" mustangs. ...that's where the kudos go!

fairlane292

That would work too.

fairlane292

I added step 0) with this great idea of yours.

Zrz11386

I feel for you bro, my girlfriend is 4'11 also, on a good day, a short little angry hispanic woman, but she loves driving my car, and its a pain to make sure she can reach everything.